


I Love the Way She Smiles

by LariUmbreon



Series: Rissa's Sonic AU [1]
Category: Sonic - Fandom, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Demisexuality, Dysphoria, F/F, Prophecy, Slice of Life, Trans, Trans Female Character, Transformation, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:56:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26392258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LariUmbreon/pseuds/LariUmbreon
Summary: Sonic's been acting odd lately, and Tails isn't all to sure why. Amy receives a letter from him asking for assistance, but with the world at stake once again is there even time for personal introspection?
Relationships: Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Rissa's Sonic AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918081
Comments: 15
Kudos: 84





	1. Acting Strange

##  **I**

_ Acting Strange _

“He’s been acting really weird the past few days, and I can’t take any time away from my workshop right now with Knuckles needing help putting the Master Emerald back together again. Do you think you could stop by, Amy? It would mean a lot to me if you did.” read the letter that Tails had sent for Amy.

She wasn’t sure what to think of it. After all, Sonic does get moody sometimes, but it’s never been sour enough to warrant her checking in on him. She wouldn’t miss a chance to say hi and try to spend time with her ‘Darling Sonic,’ though. Maybe today would be the day she could finally cheer him up, and he would confess his undying love! “Oh, who am I kidding…?” Amy thought to herself, “If I keep on with that childish attitude, he’ll never see me as anything more than an annoying kid!”

Truth be told, she was an adult now. While, yes, she loves to embrace her childlike nature quite often, today just felt different to her. She nodded her head in an attempt to pep herself up, “That’s it! Today’s the day I show Sonic what being a mature woman is all about!” she gleefully shouted to herself before running off to go meet Sonic.

It was midday by the time Amy made it to Tails’ workshop. The first thing she noticed was the bright green glow from the windows followed by Knuckles gliding into the hangar with his hands full of emerald green shards. Her eyes quickly fixated up towards the roof, where she could faintly see Sonic’s bright red shoe bouncing to an unheard rhythm. “Sonic! Hey, down here!” Amy shouted joyfully, watching the shoe stop and pull away from the roof’s edge.

She waited a while, but Sonic didn’t jump down like he normally would on days like this. Instead, the Blue Blur decided to climb just a bit higher onto Tails’ workshop roof. “Sonic! I know you’re up there! I can climb up there too you know! Come on, I just want to talk!” she continued to shout, readying herself for the jump to begin climbing on top of the building herself.

“Okay, Sonic. If that’s how you’re going to be. Here I co--” she was cut off by the brush of wind as Sonic landed beside her.

“The answer is no, Amy. I don’t want to go on whatever date you’ve cooked up for us.” Sonic said, coldly, as he walked down the path away from the workshop.

“How are you so sure it was a date?” she quipped back, giving her usual rascal smirk, “I was thinking more of an adventure together!”

Sonic gave her a cautious, yet curious look before he fully turned to her to listen. “See, after that last battle with Eggman,” she started, “he left his base deserted. We left following him before it could be destroyed too. Maybe we could pull some data off his machine to give to Tails to try and figure out what he’s planning next?” Amy said, trying not to lose focus due to Sonic’s attentive gaze.

The blue hedgehog only gave a confirming nod and thumbs up in return, before he turned around and started towards the plains outside Central City. Amy quickly followed, excited that for what seemed the first time in years, Sonic for once actually kept a pace she could keep up with.

Meanwhile, Tails was analyzing the pieces of the Master Emerald before giving them Knuckles to piece back into place. “This is incredible! Each of these pieces could probably power all seven of the Chaos Emeralds ten times over!” Tails said, excitedly before a troubling worry set in, “Something about it seems off though…”

“What do you mean?” Knuckles asked, trying to set the Emerald back in order.  
“The Master Emerald is supposed to nullify and redirect the power of the Chaos Emeralds, right? But instead, since it broke this time the one I usually keep in my workshop’s been doing nothing but giving off excess energy.” Tails said, as he then opened his desk to reveal the emerald he usually keeps in the Tornado III, it was glowing brightly, giving off a slight hum. 

“Huh? They’re only supposed to do that if they’re seated with the Master Emerald at its altar, and only when all seven of them are together.” Knuckles said, scratching his head.  
“Or when you, Sonic, or Shadow have them together to use your Super Forms.” Tails added. “I had to take this one out, I was worried the excess energy it was giving off would short the Tornado.”  
“You could probably go Super too if you tried, Tails.” Knuckles said as he held the glowing emerald up to his face. “You’re probably old enough to not need these super-sized anymore. Too bad the headache after all the excess Chaos energy keeps me from joining in on the fun half the times.”

“Same here, I don’t know how those hedgehogs do it, it’s like the energy just resonates with them on a deeper level. Almost as if they were born for it.” The fox said as he put his goggles back down to tinker with his latest gadget, while Knuckles put the rest of the pieces they had collected with the massive emerald, slowly returning to its normal shape.eigh

“Gah! -- We’re a few short!” Knuckles growled, slamming one fist into the other. “I couldn’t tell if it was more pieces or one of the Chaos Emeralds acting weird, but I felt a large amount of energy coming from my Island. Maybe the rest of the pieces are in that underground Hydro City. Want to come with me to find out?”

“It has been a while since I’ve gotten out and stretched. Seeing as how Amy is keeping Sonic company, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I was meaning to ask if you’d take me down there to do some research anyway.” Tails replied as he hopped off his seat and gave his twin tails a rotary stretch before starting his workshops’ lockdown system.

The two then headed off on their way to Angel Island, albeit taking the slow route with the Tornado being out of commission. Tails still didn’t want to risk damaging his latest plane if the Emeralds were acting up again. They both could use the exercise anyway. Things have been a bit dull the past four months since Eggman disappeared. Tails couldn’t help but feel as though that was a bad thing, usually, the longer Eggman is gone for, the larger a threat he would cook up to try and take over the world again.

They were halfway to the Island when Knuckles snapped Tails out of his thoughts. “Do you think Sonic’s mad at me?” Knuckles asked.

“He didn’t seem mad, what makes you think that?” Tails questioned in return as the two flew on.

“Well after I asked if he’d help dive for some Emerald Shards he kinda just zoned off and jumped on your roof today,” Knux said, catching a trailing wind to get extra height.

“What did you say to him?” Tails pressed with slight concern.

“I asked if he felt he was man enough to head to the bottom of the ocean to help get shards from the Master Emerald. I didn’t expect a no or to make him upset. I didn’t even know Sonic could get upset, now that I think about it.” Knuckles said, shaking his head in confusion.

“You know he’s afraid of the water, Knuckles. He’s been working really hard lately to handle himself in water better, but as deep as those shards were he’d have panicked. I wasn’t expecting him to be so down today either, he’s been really strange lately.” Tails explained, also confused.

“Maybe he’s bored with Eggman still not around? We haven’t even seen any robots to kick around since then. No world-ending crisis, or interdimensional invasions? I’ve been bored too.” Knux said, hoping to find a point that stuck.

“That’s kinda why I asked Amy to help. She’s a really good empath, maybe she’ll be able to figure out what’s been bothering him so we can all help.” Tails said with a bit of happiness in his voice. 

Sonic was his big brother, he didn’t like seeing him shuffle like he was defeated all the time as he had been in the recent days. It’d been years since Sonic caught the little fox repainting his plane, for a good lot of those years Sonic’s smile gave everyone, including Tails hope. Lately, Sonic hasn’t been smiling, and the few times he does Tails doesn’t see the same spark anymore. He’d do anything to make sure his best friend was happy.


	2. Warm Hospitality

##  **II**

_ Warm Hospitality _

As Sonic and Amy were on their way to Eggman’s base outside of Central City, Amy noticed the entire time that Sonic wasn’t exactly paying attention during their run. She didn’t want to comment about it, but there were more than enough times where Sonic’s usual finesse was completely gone. While he never outright tripped up anywhere, the occasional jump, which should be second nature to the both of them by this point, required more rolls to recover from. The split second of hesitation with each hop down from a cliff, all the small little things he never would’ve had issues with. Amy had spent the trip thinking about how odd Sonic was acting, she hardly noticed neither of them had stopped to rest and her mind was quickly brought back to reality with an extremely audible growl from her stomach. The two came to a rapid halt with Amy holding her stomach as it continued to growl. “You too?” Sonic said chuckling, the first words he had said all day. “C’mon. We’re not too far from Central, and it’s getting late. We can stop by your place to stay for the night.”

“Yeah… Sure that sounds like a good I-- Wait-” It had just clicked in her head what Sonic had suggested.

At that point she couldn’t tell what was making her flushed with red more, the embarrassment of her stomach being the most vocal between the three of them, or Sonic, for the first time in the over eight years they’ve known each other, being the one to suggest they stay at her home. She didn’t have much time to think about why when her stomach again growled, which led to Sonic breaking out laughing while her face began to glow a crimson red. “Y-yeah l-let’s go! I don’t have my hammer a-anyway! We might need it at Eh-Eggman’s base.” she stuttered, grabbing Sonic’s wrist and making way for her home in Central City.

“Wha-- Hey! Not so hard, Amy!” Sonic yelped, caught off guard. Struggling to regain his footing, he let Amy take the lead.

Truth be told, Sonic wasn’t hungry. He’d been struggling to even muster an appetite for the past few days. Not like he’d ever mention that to Amy. As the two of them walked into her home, Sonic’s eyes fixated on Amy’s coffee table. On it was a collage of various newspaper clippings of everyone’s adventures over the years. “Oh! You weren’t supposed to see that! Darn it!” Amy quickly ran to the table to pick up the collage board, “This was supposed to be a surprise for your next birthday!” she said, as she quickly put it in her coat closet.

“It’s okay, I hardly got a look at it,” Sonic said, rubbing his nose, trying to act like he wasn’t looking. He spent the next while looking around her apartment.

She had done a complete redesign, it was a bit more rustic than he has remembered. A whole lot less pink. By the window were a few slightly overgrown plants, which Amy then started to water after closing her coat closet. “Alright, it’s been a little bit since I’ve been home, but I should have plenty of food I can make between the two of us. Anything in mind you’d like?” she asked, moving from her window to her kitchen.

“Oh uh, I wouldn’t mind anything, Amy. I’m--” 

“Not hungry? Amy said, cutting him off, “I know you haven’t eaten at all today, so I’m going to make sure that you do. Got it?”

“How did you--?” Sonic tried to speak again and was immediately cut off.

“You hardly eat when you’re pensive as it is, I’ve seen you go days without when the world is in crisis. I think by now I can tell when you haven’t eaten. This is the first conversation we’ve had all day, and the sun is setting!” Amy said, sounding exhausted, “Look, I’m sorry. I’m really hungry. I’m not meaning to snap like that, forgive me please?”

“It’s no big deal, Amy. Really. I’ve just got a lot on my mind I guess.” Sonic replied, sitting down on her couch.

The pink hedgehog then began to open her fridge and pull out some leftover bao dumplings and rice and split it up between the two of them before heating them. “Tails wouldn’t shut up about you two’s visit to Chun-Nan the other day and it got me wanting Xiao Long,” she chuckled, putting their plates down on her coffee table, “that was some time ago now, wasn’t it? You were so big and strong and fuzzy! Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be wrapped up in those manly arms you had…”

Sonic couldn’t help but chuckle weakly to that, “You probably wouldn’t have liked it...” he managed to speak out, slowly starting to eat.

“Probably not, them being so stretchy might’ve made things awkward,” she replied, deflecting after noticing Sonic’s shift in demeanor.

Why wouldn’t he have one? That whole endeavor turning into that werehog thing must have been horrifying to live through. Amy couldn’t imagine turning into something like that, she’d have to hide away every night. But Sonic, as he usually does, pressed through it. That is part of why she did develop feelings for him beyond that crush when they first met, he’s always been a beacon of strength and perseverance. But from her even mentioning his transformation, that seems to fade away for a moment.

The two sat in silence for a few moments. Sonic, after having a few bites was feeling hungry for the first time that day. Amy, finally fed, could focus on more than just her hunger pains. Naturally, as an empath the moment she could feel around her she noticed the emotional pit Sonic was. She’d never felt him so low. “I -- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you so upset…” she muttered.

“Huh?” she had caught Sonic by surprise with that, then he realized she probably noticed just how deep his funk was. “Oh -- It’s not you, Amy. It’s okay,” he said finishing his plate.

“I just wasn’t thinking, I know all that werehog business wasn’t a fun time for you. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be stuck like that. A body that’s not your own. I’m just happy you were able to fix the Chaos Emeralds so you weren’t stuck feeling like that anymore.” she said, grabbing their plates and taking them to be washed.

“Y-Yeah. I’m happy about that too…” Sonic said, obviously feeling down.

Truth be told, Sonic didn’t expect Amy to pull his mask off so quickly. He’s really good at hiding when things are bothering him, or at least he thought he was? He’d been battling his thoughts the past few weeks and they’ve just gotten worse and worse with the Chaos Emeralds behaving weird. Sonic knew that the Emeralds resonated with him more than anyone else, though nobody could ever explain or figure it out. He was scared of how the gems were acting, they would affect him and change him in some unknown way again. But that wasn’t even his worst fear. Even worse, he couldn’t even conceptualize those fears fully. For some reason, he felt foreign to himself, and he couldn’t explain why.

He was immediately snapped out of his thoughts when Amy put her hand on his shoulder, “Hey, I know you have your favorite spots to sleep here in the city. But it would mean a lot to me if you stayed here tonight. I don’t think you’re wanting to be alone as it is.” She said, giving him a warm smile. “I still mean what I said then, y’know? No matter what package you come in, you’re still my Sonic. So whatever is bothering you, feel free to tell me when you’re ready.”

That settled the hedgehog’s mind if only a little bit. Amy stood up, gave a good stretch and a deep yawn. “I don’t know how you boys run for so long all the time. Even with all the exercise, I do to keep up with you, I still end up drained at the end of days like this.”

“You get used to it.” Sonic started with a quick chuckle before himself yawning.

The two hedgehogs gave each other a knowing nod before Amy went into her bedroom. Sonic got comfortable on the couch and the two of them drifted off for the night. However, Sonic’s night was restless. Other than tossing and turning, mulling over his thoughts, there was not much else Sonic could do to fall asleep, except wait and hope that it happened.


	3. The Secret of the Ruins

##  **III**

_ The Secret of the Ruins _

As dawn was approaching, Tails awoke to Knuckles still keeping watch by their campfire. They managed to get to Angel Island before nightfall but figured getting an early day was best. They were just at the edge of the cliff leading down into Hydrocity. “Are you sure about this, Tails? The place is flooded with the island stuck in the ocean.” Knuckles said concerned, “I can just go down there myself. I can always just bring you back when the water levels are normal.”

“If my research is correct, what’s going wrong with the Chaos Emeralds has something to do with here. I’m not sure what we’ll find, but I’m hoping there might be some answers.” Tails explained, “I’m kinda glad Sonic isn’t here. It seems even more flooded than the last time we were here.”

“Yeah, when Eggman left taking all the junk he set up here, he basically destroyed half the city. Hopefully, he didn’t destroy what we’re looking for, and hopefully, the shards of the Master Emerald aren’t stuck somewhere we can’t dig through easily.” Knuckles said, getting ready to climb down.

There wasn’t much that had changed since all those years ago, maybe a few rusted Badniks left behind, other than that the ruins were still mostly intact aside from the recent water damage. Tails instantly focused on the statues of hedgehogs ladened on the walls. “Hey, these look like Sonic! And they’re everywhere!”

“Yeah, my people seemed to have an obsession with hedgehogs. They’re depicted all over the island.” Knuckles said.

“I know, but these are the spitting image of Sonic. At least how he looked when he was younger. There’s so many of them!” Tails said, scanning them with his tablet. “We should follow them, we might figure something out.”

The two continued to traverse the ruins, opting to stay above the water the best they could, Knuckles doing his best to sense the pieces of the Master Emerald as they went. Tails was trying to use his tablet to not only map the ruins but also decipher the text across the walls while keeping disciplined notes across every neck and turn that they went to.

When they reached a large sealed door at the end of the statues, Tails noticed the mural on the wall was similar to the Master Emerald’s shrine. “I can feel it, the pieces have to be behind here.” Knuckles said, placing his hand against the door.

He tried to give it a good push, but it wouldn’t budge. He had started putting on his shovel claws to see if I could knock the door down. It was at that point that Tails started to feel a slight burning from where he was keeping the Chaos Emerald. He took it out and lifted it to the door, which then prompted it to open. Upon opening, a tidal wave of water flushed out from the room, obviously being flooded for much longer than anyone could guess. Nearly washing both of them away from the force, consuming them in a torrent of water.

Knuckles, seeing Tails losing his footing jabbed his fist into the hallway’s wall and grabbed Tail’s arm as the water continued to flush outwards into the abandoned city. Once the water had subsided after what seemed like an eternity, the two of them collapsed to the wet floor gasping for air. “Thanks, Knuckles…” Tails managed to say between gasps for air.

“You’re welcome. I’m not about to just let you wash away and drown, Tails.” Knuckles said, standing up regaining his composure.

He began walking into the next room, it was a massive chamber, almost too dark for the two of them to see in. It wasn’t until they stepped foot in the room for the first time that torches flickered on magically illuminating the room. All the walls were anointed with mosaics depicting many of the various battles between Super Sonic and Eggman, and the various gods and monsters. Centered in the room was, as Tails suspected, another Altar for the Master Emerald.

Knuckles could instantly feel the shards of the Master Emerald in the room, and began to run in deeper to find them before the two of them were stopped by a blinding ball of light. Tikal manifested herself before them. “Please! You don’t understand what you’ve done! You have to leave!”

“Tikal? What are you talking about? How are you here? I thought you were with Chaos in the Master Emerald?” Knuckles asked, slightly panicked.

“Yes, we still are. The pieces where we lay are in this room. But it’s by no accident we’re here,” the Echidna began to explain. “As you know, the Master Emerald has shattered again, the last times were by accident. This time it’s by fate. Chaos has felt a great evil within this chamber and sought to come here in order to keep it at bay from destroying the world. We can’t let you take our pieces back. We’re the only ones containing this evil.”

“What do you mean?” Tails asked with concern growing in his posture as he started to take a few steps back.

“Please, there’s hardly any time to explain. Chaos can only hold it back for so long. Take the Chaos Emerald you have with you and leave! Before it senses it and tries to take it from you!” Tikal continued to speak frantically, terror rising in her voice.

“Oh, please. Tikal there’s nothing we haven’t seen and handled. It can’t be that bad.” Knuckles braggartly said.

It was at that point a large wave of some dark energy erupted from the altar, it began to alter shape into a narrow spear, hurling itself towards Tails. Just before it hit the in-shock fox, Chaos emerged from the water. Holding back the wave as the god’s steps began to stagger, Tails fell backward in fear.

“Hurry! Leave! Now!” Tikal screamed, escaping back to her piece of the Master Emerald.

“Right! Tails, come on!” Knuckles yelled, grabbing Tails and helping him up.

As they were running out of the altar room, the dark force recollected itself and manifested into a strange creature. With deep glowing crimson eyes and cascades of shadows falling from its body, it once again charged towards Tails. Chaos again trying to halt it from escaping, this time failing, as the dark creature almost instantly dashed forward, blasting through the god’s body and hitting Tails. Knocking the Chaos Emerald loose from Tails’ possession.

“Why you!” Knuckles screamed, trying to attack the creature, but his punch just phased through.

In retaliation the monster sent Knuckles flying into the altar room, it then collected the Chaos Emerald and flew off and out of the ancient city. Knuckles and Tails laid unconscious as Chaos reformed with Tikal once again appearing.

“Oh no! What are we going to do?” Tikal asked the god, still trying to stay somewhat composed from the whole ordeal.

Chaos struggling to remain fully formed, only silently pointed towards the mural of yet another battle between a hedgehog and the strange creature behind the altar. “You’re right! We have to hope the Emeralds will guide the way.”

Tikal then walked over to Tails and Knuckles and did her best to heal them with what energy she had left. She then looked towards Chaos and gave a confirming nod. The god, using the power of the Master Emerald’s Chaos Control brought the two back to Tails’ workshop. Tikal and Chaos once again rejoining and completing the Master Emerald as the two unconscious friends lay peacefully there.


	4. Is that ALL I am?

##  **IV**

_ Is That ALL I Am? _

Sonic awoke that morning to the smell of candles burning, with Amy puzzlingly looking over her Tarot cards. “I just don’t know what to make of this! The Knight, The Maiden, The Mirror, and The Wolf?”

“Oh no… I’m stuck in a book again aren’t I?” Sonic said dazed and half awake, dragging his hand across his face. “Wait no, that wasn’t a book. I think.”

“Goodmorning, and no, you’re still in the real world as far as I know. I’m just doing a quick tarot reading before we head out.” Amy said, sipping on a small cup of tea. “I just have no clue what to make of it.”

“Are you sure there’s anything to make of it? This tarot stuff has always seemed kinda goofy to me.” Sonic said, rubbing his eyes.

“You expect me to believe that after all the literal gods you’ve dealt with, and all the magic books and portals you’ve fallen through. Me reading cards is the line for what you don’t believe in?” Amy said, somewhat offended. 

“No? I guess I just don’t get what you’re supposed to get out of reading cards, Amy.” Sonic replied.

“Well, I could spend a long time going into it, but I have the sinking feeling we’re going to have a long day. I’ll try to keep it simple,” she said, as she started pointing to the cards.

“The Knight. A protector, who often comes just in time when needed. Strong and resilient, yet soft and kind.” she started fawning over her thoughts “Reminds me of you.” She said, giving a subtle sigh.

“The Maiden. A pillar of beauty and reason, who is often protected by The Knight. They’re often pulled from the deck together if one is about to go through trials where they’ll need assistance or protection. What I’m getting from that is we should keep our guard up.”

Sonic was somewhat understanding, but he decided to sit quietly while Amy continued.

“The Mirror. This is the one that’s really throwing me off. It usually tells of one finding their true self through their reflection. But I don’t see how that has anything to do with the other three?”

“huh?...” Sonic muttered, joining in Amy’s confusion.

“Lastly, The Wolf. Internal struggle and great fear, or it could be an outward force set on the hunt. This one especially worries me.” Amy said, finally picking the cards up and placing them back in her deck. “I’d draw more, but if I kept going to find answers this would turn into a solo trip for you.”

“So I guess that means we’re going to have to be on our toes today and look after each other? Is that what I got from that?” Sonic asked, hopping up and giving a final stretch before walking to the door.

The two quickly set off westward towards the plains. As they arrived, everywhere they looked was still littered with the debris from their last battle with Eggman. Between taking down the straggling rusted out badnik and dodging the assorted false spring and death trap. It was almost completely void of any substance of movement that wasn’t given by the two hedgehogs. It was starting to freak Amy out how eerie it all was.

“Jeeze, I guess this does mean Eggman’s completely abandoned this place. There’s not even a single clean up robot he usually sends. I’m surprised G.U.N. hasn’t tried to come through and salvage any of this.” Amy said, trying to keep calm.

“They already tried,” Sonic said, coming to a stop just outside the entrance to the hillside base.

Littering the entrance for about a hundred yards, were dozens of destroyed G.U.N. warbots intermixed with Eggman’s badniks. Most common among them were scavenge drones. “Amy. Don’t let yourself fall too far behind in there.” Sonic said sternly.

Amy, of course, knew that tone in his voice. It’s the one that Sonic uses when he knows things are about to get beyond dangerous. She, enjoying how far acting more mature had gotten her on an adventure with Sonic, let the mask slip just a little. She was afraid, and he especially could tell. His voice, now resonating with focus, was the prime example of that. She wanted to reach for his hand because suddenly their roles for the past day were reversed. It was she who needed emotional help. Before she could, Sonic geared up into a tight spinball and with full force slammed into the door, causing it to bust down. Within was a moderately long hallway, almost pitch black if it weren’t for the slowly pulsating dimmed lights that stretched into the base.

“That’s a promising start,” Sonic said, lightly rubbing his head after hitting the door a touch harder than he expected.

It was at that moment she realized, yeah Sonic went into his full serious mode, but he still was having trouble staying in control. If anything he seemed even more unsure of his footing than he did the day before. But he still looked towards her to see if she was ready, all she could do was ready herself for whatever was to come. She decided the most mature thing to do in that situation was to try and push her fears down and focus.

The two made their way into Eggman’s deserted base, Sonic having to go off memory from his last run through from months ago. Despite the layout being the same, the overwhelming feeling of dread and the silence of the corridors gave off didn’t help either of them in finding their way. Almost every door was locked, and the ones that weren’t were just dusty storage closets. After what seemed like many runs in circles, Amy started to slam her hammer into the side of the walls to try to mark where they’ve been. All she managed to do was start causing bits of the ceiling to collapse. Sonic managed to grab her hammer before it caused the corridor they were in to fall in on itself. 

It was at that moment they both heard the whirl up of something mechanical down the hallway. Following therein was the quickly approaching clanking cascade of noise, they both turned to see a bunch of Egg Pawns running down the hallways. Amy readied for a fight, but Sonic extended his arm and pulled the two of them towards the wall, letting the robot army pass. The two hedgehogs then realized something even worse was coming, Amy watching Sonic’s fists tighten gripped her hammer tighter in return as anxiety washed over her.

The terrible sound of metal shredding soon filled their ears, and the already dimmed lights began to flicker uncontrollably. Once the Egg Pawns had cleared the two of them, Sonic stepped out into the middle of the tight corridor, waiting for whatever was coming. Sure enough, a few seconds passed before a massive snake-like robot began to shred its way through the hallway, destroying everything behind it as it crawled on. Amy couldn’t even respond before Sonic charged ahead at the machine, however it managed to counter his dash and grab him, pulling him through a nearby door.

“Sonic!” Amy screamed frantically, watching Sonic being pulled through the now twisted and shredded metal.

“I’m -- Ow… -- Fine!” Sonic replied, taking a brisk look around to see the robot managed to drag him into a server room of some kind.

Around the room were stacks of harddrive cases and a central console, in the center was a glass embossed enclosure which was clearly designed to hold a Chaos Emerald. “I don’t think we should let this thing destroy whatever’s in here! We won’t be able to find what Tails needs to --” he continued before being cut off, and sent careening against a wall.

Amy quickly jumped into the fray, readying her hammer for a fierce slam downwards. She let out a hefty scream as she hit the creature with full force, damaging the machine and crushing one of its many sections. Getting her hammer stuck in the process. Sonic, seeing that part of the machine exposed, would try to take advantage of the newly given weak spot. Curling up into a ball, and preparing to finish the job. However, the snake would then turn its attention to Amy as she aggressively tried to remove her hammer from the damaged shell, tearing it further.

The machine swung its tail to force Amy off, sending her flying straight into the computer. She screamed out for Sonic’s help, unable to regain control, hurling towards the large screen. Instantly answered by the near-instant course correction of Sonic’s dash, catching her and setting her down in front of the screen.

“Here, take this and start seeing if you can get the data we came here for, I’ll take care of this thing,” Sonic said handing Amy the Chaos Emerald he kept with him, then turning around and jumping again at the monstrous snake.

Recollecting her thoughts, and shaking away the daze from the hit she took, Amy began to work by putting the Chaos Emerald into the computer’s main console. This was the first time she had seen, and felt, the excess energy the emeralds were giving off. Trying to ignore the clamor of everything behind her, she pushed the emerald into its designed slot, and immediately the entire room began to flush with light.

“I think this belongs to you!” Sonic said, gently placing her hammer next to her while she scrambled to collect data for Tails on the small device he had given her.

“Oh! Thanks!” Amy half-mindedly said as she continued to siphon data from Eggman’s terminal.

The blue hedgehog then took to finishing off the massive robot by using a massive dash ball to drill through the exposed areas of the snake. It collapsed almost instantly, its powerless body tearing through the walls of the room as it fell. With the power to the room restored, the robot was clear in full view. It was rippled with countless bullet holes, and energy burns, and scrapes from what seemed like an endless battle. It barely had any resemblance to anything Eggman or GUN could have made, instead, it looked older.

Sonic casually walked back towards Amy brushing dust off his hands. “So, any luck finding what Eggman’s planning next?”

“No, there’s just…” Amy started, “Nothing. Old mechs, prototypes, but nothing about what he could be doing next. There’s nothing to decrypt and there’s just... Nothing! It’s like...”

All Sonic could do was stare confused into the screen, as file after file was opened and closed as it moved from the terminal to Tails’ device. “It’s like?” he asked.

“It’s like he had to leave before cooking something else up. Or if he did, we’re not going to figure it out from here.” Amy replied, removing the data device and the chaos emerald from the machine, and handing them both to Sonic.

The light that filled the room began to fade from the room as the two of them began to walk out of the base, luckily still intact from the rampage that just occurred. Upon leaving they saw the long line of Egg Pawns’ footsteps leading away from the base and out into the plains. Their eyes adjusted to the midday sun and Sonic took the opportunity to stretch. “I guess Knuckles is gonna be happy having something to do here again. He’s been aching for a fight.” Sonic said, chuckling as he juggled both the Chaos Emerald and the data they had just collected in one hand.

He jumped when Amy let out a loud, almost shriek of a gasp. “Sonic! You’re hurt!” she said, pointing to the fairly large gash on Sonic’s arm.

Despite the fact it was still bleeding, Sonic just shrugged and shook his arm, “Must’ve happened when I got dragged through that door. It’s not like it hurts or any --”

He was cut off by Amy quickly grabbing his arm and pulling out a handkerchief to make a quick bandage, which caused him to wince in pain.

“See? It does hurt!” Amy said, sounding slightly frustrated, “What is with you boys and acting so nonchalant about being hurt? You act so dumb sometimes…” her tone changed to a soft, and gingerly one, “Dumb boys, doing dumb things. But saving the world. I guess it’s not so bad.”

“Look, I said it’s fine, Amy!” Sonic said coldly, pulling his arm away from her.

“Hey! What’s gotten into you! I’m trying to help!” Amy said, slightly raising her voice.

“Nothing, I’m okay. Let’s just get this back to Tails.” Sonic replied, turning his back to her.

“Do you -- Do you really hate me that much?” Amy said, trying to hold back whimpering.

“Huh? Amy I --” Sonic muttered, turning around to see Amy slumped over with her eyes locked toward the ground.

“Knuckles just treats me like a dumb kid, and never listens to me. He ignores me and never lets me help.” She started, tears beginning to leave her cheeks. “Shadow always treats me like I’m pitiful and weak. Those Chaotix jerks always push me out of their way like a bother.”

She rubbed her face before looking Sonic in the eyes and continuing. “Tails at least tries to include me, and make me feel like I don’t get in the way. But then he just runs off with you the second you decide it’s time for another adventure! He’s younger than me and you all still treat him better than you do me!” She said, her tears drying and her voice shifting to anger.

“But you… You treat me the worst out of everyone, Sonic!” she shouted, stepping forwards toward Sonic, putting her finger to his chest.

“Amy… please I --” Sonic tried to say, attempting to gently place his hand on hers.

“No! Not today! I’ve had it!” She continued to shout as more tears then began to fall from her face as she pushed Sonic’s hand away.

“For years, I’ve tried and tried! All these years I’ve spent following you! Just for what? For you to constantly run away from me? To push me away?” she tried her best to calm herself, but that only intensified her crying.

“Yes, I have feelings for you. Yes, I’m probably too clingy for my own good. But you don’t even give me the time of day.” she started, struggling to keep her mouth from quivering shut with each word, “You don’t even treat me like a friend… You treat me like all I do is slow you down…” 

“Amy… You don’t slow me down… I --” Sonic tried to calmly say, again trying to put his hand on her shoulder.

“Then why? Why does it feel like you don’t even care about me?” she said, once again pushing his hand away, “Why does every time I try to show the slightest bit of concern for you have to end with you running away from me? Why did the one time I try to show you I can be mature and not constantly chase my feelings for you, you still push me away?”

“Maybe I just don’t want you getting hurt, Amy! Look what happened back there!” Sonic yelled, matching her raised voice.

“You really think I’m going to buy that?!” She said, feeling far more deeply offended than she expected to be. “You really think I can’t handle myself after all these years? What I can’t handle is standing by and watching you almost dying every other week!”

“I --” Sonic started to look down, defeated.

“I can accept that you won’t ever love me, I think I have for a while now. But I won’t accept you constantly pushing me away with this super macho ‘protect the girl’ crap!”

“…dumb boy…?” Sonic muttered, “…macho…? Is that all I am to you?…” 

“I try to hug you so much every time I meet you again because I’m scared it might be the last time I ever get to. Every time I see you run off, I’m scared that’s the last time I’m ever going to see you.” she finally started to calm down, having gotten all of her anger out and continued, “That’s the type of girl I am. I know you’d never understand what goes through a girl’s mind…”

“…never understand?” Sonic continued to mutter silently, beginning to clutch the Chaos Emerald in his hand harder as he did.

“…But that’s what goes through mine. You’re my hero, Sonic. You don’t have to prove yourself to me, you don’t have to be that perfect boyfriend or that perfect g -- that perf -- ” Amy couldn’t finish her sentence, it felt like all the air around her was being pulled down a sink drain.

She watched in horror as Sonic’s blood dripped down his arm and onto the Chaos Emerald, once it touched, it began to float around rhythmically to the sporadic chaos energy the emerald was giving off. It began to glow brighter, and underneath Sonic’s feet, a growing pool of energy started to form.

Amy felt cut off. She couldn’t feel Sonic anymore. She couldn’t feel anyone anymore. It was like all connections she’s ever made as an empath were being completely severed. All she could feel was what seemed like an emotional pit deeper than the sea. It was full of anguish, and fear. She started to panic as that feeling started to consume her.

“Then am I supposed to be? The world’s savior? The good big brother? The perfect lover to be chased around? Man of the Hour: Sonic The Hedgehog! All I am is what everyone else expects me to be! I’m always running from it!”

The energy started to encompass Sonic, it started to appear as a dark shadowy mist as it covered his body. “Sonic? Please!” Amy managed to shout, but she felt as though she was being drowned out by the sheer force of the energy being released. 

She tried her best to move forward, every step feeling like a massive weight was put onto each foot. Watching as Sonic started to clutch his head and scream in pain she pressed further, the energy beginning to feel more and more familiar as she got closer.

“Why can’t I just be -- Why can’t I --” Sonic screamed out in pain as he collapsed to the floor.

The world seemed to stop once Amy was finally able to grab a hold of Sonic and hold him tight. “Sonic! Please listen to me!” she said, pulling him closer. It wasn’t until she tried to adjust to being able to look him in the eyes did she notice he was crying. It was the first time she had ever seen Sonic cry in her recent memory.

“If all you do is run away from being the person everyone expects you to be… Who do you want to be?”

Those words rang through Sonic’s ears and suddenly all the energy surrounding him collapsed off. There was a brief moment of clarity as they looked into each other’s eyes. Sonic looked down to see one of his deepest fears confirmed: The Chaos Emeralds were acting up, they would change him again, and he couldn’t control it.

He threw the emerald away in fear, causing all the negative energy released to return to the emerald. Not soon after the energy repulsed outward sending the two of them flying into a nearby crashed battleship knocking Amy immediately out. Sonic stayed lucid enough to watch a walking mist of darkness approach the emerald and take it before returning to the ground and skittering away.

“Hey… Wait!…” He tried to force himself to get up, but he quickly fell back to the ground, into a deep unconsciousness.

## 


	5. I never really liked 'Ogilvie.'

##  **V**

_I never really liked ‘Ogilvie.’_

Sonic woke up with a piercing headache and the setting sun’s glare in his eyes. Looking around he saw Amy curled up still sleeping. He crawled closer just to stay near her as he started to once again fight with his thoughts. He had never felt so out of control than he did the past few weeks. He never really had a chance to really think. “Who do I want to be, huh?” he muttered to himself.

Looking at his palms he noticed he ripped into his glove with the Chaos Emerald. “Right! The Chaos Emerald!” he shouted as he tried to stand up, only to let out a sharp scream of pain as he collapsed again to the ground clutching his head.

Amy, hearing this picked herself up. “Wow! Talk about having your rings knocked out!” she said with a slight giggle, only for it to be cut short as she looked to see Sonic curled over shaking in pain.

Realizing it wasn’t the time to make light of the situation she moved over to Sonic and put her hand on his shoulder. “Sonic? Breath, okay? Everything is okay…” she said, trying to give a small shake to get his attention.

Sonic immediately calmed down and adjusted, heaving a large sigh, “I’m sorry…” he said, looking at Amy.

His energy was still drained, his throat hurt from screaming, his eyes were dry, by now the only part of his body that didn’t hurt was his arm which had gone numb after the bleeding stopped. “I should… I need to… I --”

Amy started shushing him softly, “It’s okay… I should say sorry too. I didn’t expect to get so --”

“It’s my fault. I never stopped to think that I had been so, I don’t know, mean to you?” He curled his knees in and grabbed them both. “I hardly ever stop to think. Every time I do I --”

“Get all stoic and try to avoid everyone until you feel better?” Amy said, gently running her hand across Sonic’s back. “I hate to be Captain Obvious, but whatever’s been bothering you so much lately clearly can’t just be all on you.”

“Are you hurt?” Sonic said, clutching his fists together as he fought tears from coming again, “I don’t hate you, I never have.”

“I think a good lie down later will help, you seem worse off if I’m going to be honest.” She said, moving closer to Sonic, “I… I know you don’t. I just -- Like I said, I hate how often you put me on the sidelines. I know I’m not allowed in the boys club and--” Amy cut herself short noticing Sonic curl up tighter.

“It’s not a -- I mean I’m not --” Sonic tried to speak through his already fried brain.

He again tried to cradle his head, he started to lean toward Amy for support, and all she could do was wrap her arm around him. Meanwhile, she tried her best to connect the dots.

“You’re not what? If you don’t want to be the world’s hero anymore, you don’t have to. Eggman doesn’t seem like he’s coming back any time soon.” she started, trying to hold Sonic tightly. “Consider it a permanent vacation.”

She never thought she’d get to do this, she had hoped the emotions flowing through the air would have been happier ones. But something was sweet about the moment and she couldn’t help but start crying again.

“No, it’s not that. I like the hero stuff. I like helping people and saving the day. I just don’t like being -- I don’t want to be -- I can’t explain it. You’re right, I am just an idiot…” Sonic said, still trying to keep his thoughts together.

“Well then, what don’t you want to be? You adore Tails as a little brother, and he adores you as his big one. He always has. All the other stuff you were talking about?” she started, “For someone who loves being praised for saving the day to not want to be the Man-Of-The Hour. It’s almost like you just don’t want to be a --” she stopped herself as the dots and pieces all finally started to connect.

Immediately, it all made sense to her. Sonic’s almost instant tone shift at any point she had pointed out any sort of boyish cues from the hedgehog. The quick change of topic and nervousness when she called the werehog transformation “manly.” She was too angry to notice too how Sonic sunk when she mentioned how everyone were “dumb boys.” She started to feel a little bad, as she warmly smiled and looked down and held Sonic tighter.

“I just feel like I’m not in control of myself anymore. Nothing about me feels right and I just don’t want to be --” Sonic said, trying to explain.

“You don’t want to be the brother, or the boyfriend, or the ‘macho dumb boy.’ Because you’re not one?” she said plainly.

Suddenly it felt like all the pressure in the area had lifted, Amy even noticed she could feel around her again, and could especially feel Sonic. She felt what had to have been a massive shift of comfort -- Realizing it wasn’t just her who finished connecting the dots.

A frail “Y-- Yes…” was all Sonic could muster to say at that point, trying to hide by curling harder into a ball.

Amy started to stroke the blue hedgehog’s head as she gave a small chuckle. “You’re acting like I’m supposed to be getting mad at you. I already was earlier, and I shouldn’t have let myself be. There’s no reason for me to be now.”

Amy leaned back against the metal wing they had been thrown into earlier. Sonic, still curled up in a ball inched back to be close to her. “If I had known you were this affectionate of a girl, I’d have skipped asking for dates and just asked for slumber parties and cuddles,” she said with a slight giggle, as soon as she did she noticed Sonic stop shaking.

“I mean, that is if you are one. That’s not for me to decide.” Amy continued, feeling the ball of spikes and fur slowly unwind.

Sonic had started to sit up and Amy began to adjust to her knees. The two locked eyes once again as Amy gently put her hand on Sonic’s face. “Is that who you want to be? Sonic The Hedgehog: Hero, savior, champion -- girl?” she asked, watching Sonic’s eyes light up, followed by a trembling nod.

The two sat there for what seemed like ages before Sonic stood up and let out a frustrated sigh and said “But I can’t be.”

“Who’s saying you can’t?” Amy asked, puzzled.

“What’s everyone going to think? How am I supposed to explain this? I can’t even explain it!” Sonic said, kicking a rock off into the distance, before turning back to Amy, “It’s not like I’d ever be able to look the part -- or whatever.”

Amy stood up and began eyeing Sonic up and down. She gave an almost devilish smirk as she took her headband off, and shook her head to let her spikes stick back up, returning to their natural state. She walked up to a very confused and concerned Sonic and began running her hand through Sonic’s quills with a quick style and placing her headband on to set it. “I don’t know, I think you look pretty cute to me,” she said, pulling out a small cracked pocket mirror, obviously recently damaged.

As the daylight was fading, Sonic could barely make out the girl staring back from the mirror. Falling to the ground crying, being engulfed in an entirely new feeling. No real words could describe it except for ‘warm.’ 

Amy kneeled down, once again starting to stroke Sonic’s head. “You see her too, don’t you? That’s you,” she said, lifting Sonic’s chin to look her in the eyes, glistening with newfound light as the darkness of night began to race across the sky.

Her. Sonic liked the sound of that. “I’m sorry…” she muttered, picking herself off the ground.

“Oh please tell me you’re not going to be that girl who says sorry all the time?” Amy said exasperated.

“Huh? I --” Sonic stammered

“What could you possibly be sorry for?” Amy said, cutting her off chuckling.

Sonic took a deep breath and tightly bound her fists, “I’m sorry because I have feelings for you too --” she began, as Amy’s head slowly cocked to the side in confusion, “I’ve always sorta felt this way. I’ve been scared if I ever -- If we ever --.”

“Okay, one: You still owe me a date, trapped in a book or not. Two: You’re worrying over nothing.” Amy said, placing both hands on Sonic’s cheeks, “Have you already forgotten what I said? No matter what package you come in.” she paused, as Sonic’s expression lightened, “No matter what. You’re still my Sonic.”

Sonic almost instantly hugged her tightly, leaving Amy in shock as she slowly returned the hug. “If that’s even what you want me to keep calling you, that is,” she said, her hands holding the back of Sonic’s head as she cried into Amy’s shoulder.

Sonic started laughing, “Nah, I’m not going to put everyone through me changing my nickname. Especially if Tails is the only one who knows my --” she stopped as she noticed Amy trying to keep from laughing herself.

“Miles talks in his sleep, Sonic. If I were you, even if I didn’t want to be a girl, I wouldn’t want anybody calling me --”

“Ogilvie, yes. I get it. I never liked it anyway.” Sonic butted in, cutting her off in turn.

“Well, Sonic. Now’s as good of a time as any to change it, don’t you think?”

Sonic blinked blankly as her thoughts began to race faster than she could usually run. Name after name flew through Sonic’s head with none really landing as the right feeling one.

“I’m thinking --” she started, before being cut off by a loud voice from above.

“I hate to interrupt you girls during such a personal moment, but we’re in trouble!” yelled Rouge the Bat as she gently fell down from the ramparts of the destroyed airship.

“Hey! How long have you been here!” Amy screamed.

“Long enough. I traced a massive flux of Chaos Energy from here, I was hoping I could find Shadow, but it looks like it’s only you two.” she looked over to Sonic “Love the hair by the way, doll.”

Blushing, Sonic quickly undid her spikes as she pulled Amy’s headband out. Amy chuckled as she took it back and began fixing her hair again. “What do you mean you were hoping to find Shadow?” Sonic said with concern rising in her voice.

“He’s been missing for two weeks now from a mission to secure some of Eggman’s tech. I just got back from seeing Knuckles and Tails, they had a lot to tell me about what they found on Angel Island.” Rouge started, “Then when one of Tails’ Chaos Emerald trackers lit up like the sun they said here was where you two were, so I rushed hoping Shadow was here too.”

Amy watched as Sonic got that serious look in her face again, except this time she was standing a little taller than normal. Sonic turned again to Amy, “Looks like we should head back to see Tails and Knuckles. We’ve apparently missed a lot.”

Amy nodded in response. “And apparently, so have they,” Rouge calmly added, “I’ll go with you, at this rate I’m not going to find Shadow on my own.

The three of them set off into the night back to Tails’ workshop. As they ran, Amy could see Sonic running surefooted again. She had no doubt only good things would follow from here on out.


	6. The Prophecy Unfolding

##  **VI**

_The Prophecy Unfolding_

“Okay,” Sonic said nervously outside Tails’ workshop, “How are we going to handle this?”

“I’m not sure I’m the one to decide that, Sonic,” Amy said with a warm smile. “If you’re not ready to say anything to them, you don’t have to.”

“What am I even supposed to say? I--” Sonic tried to say before she was immediately cut off by Rouge cutting between her and Amy.

“I don’t know about you girls, but I do love a midnight stroll! Feeling the cold night air in my wings always raises my mood,” she said, giving her wings a quick stretch before throwing the workshop door open and walking in.

All Amy could do was give Sonic a confirming nod, before grabbing her hand and following Rouge. “It’s gonna be okay, alright?”

Sonic returned a nervous look, as Amy led her inside. Still unsure as to what was happening. She resigned herself to the decision that figuring out how to save the world should take priority before whatever personal stuff she was going through. She was still flooded with emotions she couldn’t quite understand, even thinking of herself as a “she” led to an oddly warm confusion. Was it confusion? 

Tails was hard at work at his desk tinkering with a small radar device, while Knuckles was patiently sitting, seemingly sleeping, against the Master Emerald. The echidna began to slowly grumble to himself before finally speaking, “Why do we even have to wait for Sonic anyway? If you can find the emeralds with that tracker, why don’t we head out now before that monster thing beats us to them?”

“Because it fried when that huge Chaos Energy spike happened, remember?” Tails replied, slightly annoyed, as he turned around in his chair. “My tracker isn’t tuned to the massive energy the Chaos Emeralds are giving off right now. We have to wait until Sonic comes back with his emerald before we can do anything.”

“Sorry, boys. That sadly isn’t an option anymore.” Rouge said as she entered the garage, “She lost it to whatever this dark creature is by the time I found the two of them. No Shadow in sight, either.”

“Oh fun, leave it to Amy to be the one to lose the only other emerald we had.” Knuckles quipped, slightly under his breath.

“Hey! I heard that!” Amy yelled as she entered the garage with Sonic behind her looking at the ground nervously. “Sonic’s the one who dropped it! Wait?” she started “Don’t tell me you lost yours too?”

Tails let out a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. “So why am I being singled out here?” Amy asked, glaring at Knuckles. “Look, we can argue about this later. Tails, here,” she said with a heavy breath, handing Tails the data she and Sonic collected from Eggman’s defunct base.

Tails immediately plugged it into his computer which immediately became the center of his attention, as he turned around and started working. “So, have you figured out anything trying to speak to that pretty green gem of mine, Knuckles?” Rouge asked Knuckles, stepping towards the Master Emerald.

“What do you mean ‘your’ pretty green gem?” Knuckles asked defensively, stepping between Rouge and the massive stone.

“Always on your toes about this thing, aren’t you? Well, are you at least going to answer?” she again asked.

“As a matter of fact: No I haven’t! Chaos doesn’t talk and Tikal said that we needed to wait for you to come back. We’re still as lost as when we woke up here!” Knuckles belted as his anger began to rise.

Sonic finally stepped forward, “What even happened to you guys?” she asked, giving concerned looks to Tails, noticing the fox’s leg was wrapped in bandages.

“They were attacked.” an ephemeral voice said, radiating from the Master Emerald.

The Emerald then began to glow slightly as a deep humming gently verberated throughout the room, as Tikal again manifested among everyone in the room. She gave everyone around a warm, welcoming smile, before focusing her attention on Sonic.

“I know you have already seen it. The creature of darkness and mist? It is an ancient being, far older than even Chaos -- With its return, it will seek to blot out the Sun’s light for a thousand years.” she started, “I had only heard about it in legends of the time over a millennia before my own. It was called Dur’Aza.”

“Can’t be much worse than interdimensional time monsters, and ancient warbots, can it?” Sonic asked with a slight chuckle, “I’m sure I can take this thing on no problem!”

“I am not so sure. Legend says that not even the Chaos Emeralds are strong enough alone to contain Dur’Aza’s power.” Tikal explained, sounding slightly defeated, “And seeing as how it already has two emeralds, our chances are dwindling.”

“We don’t even know where to start looking for the emeralds!” Knuckles blurted out, “We needed the one Sonic had to tune Tails’ tracking thing.”

“Yes, it is a shame that she lost it. I can barely maintain this form as is, and I regret my failure in not teaching you how to sense them through the Master Emerald yet, Knuckles. As the last of our clan, I feel you should have been taught sooner.” the spirit said, as she slowly began to fade.

“Sonic,” Tikal began, giving her full attention to Sonic, “I know it frightened you, and I know it still frightens you how the Chaos Emeralds responded to you. But of all our seers’ prophecies that have come forth as truth, all of them are tied to you, and the hedgehogs like you. Do not let despair swallow you, we may need your strength again soon.”

Tikal’s spirit once again left into the Master Emerald. Knuckles placed his hand against the stone once more. “I see,” he said, before turning to the rest of the group. “I’m to take the Master Emerald to the shrine that Tails and I found in Hydro City’s Ruins. Not only will it return Angel Island to the sky, but I should be able to learn to sense the rest of the Chaos Emeralds from Chaos and Tikal in that chamber.”

“Wait, Knuckles before you go! I think I’ve found something in Eggman’s data! --” Tails exclaimed, “It looks here like he had found ruins exposed during the Dark Gaia incident belonging to the Nocturnus Clan. It seems as though one of their cities wasn’t pulled into the Twilight Cage!”

Eggman report read: 

“All excavations are going according to plan. Acquiring more of Gizoid tech to integrate into my machines is a must if I am ever to conquer the world! That horrendous hedgehog and his friends won’t be able to stop me this time. After the huge success in reprogramming the C Class Gizoid, I have no doubt I can return to the ruins in Shamar and collect myself an army.”

“That was months ago, now.” Tails said, giving Sonic a concerning look.

“Shadow was last seen on a mission to Shamar’s desert! I knew I’d find some lead if I came here.” Rouge said, finally feeling some bit of hope.

“Then I guess that’s where we’re going,” Sonic replied with that same cocky smile she was best at.

“Not yet, Sonic.” Tails said, climbing up from his chair with a crutch, “I’m in no shape to fly, and it’s going to take until morning to prep the Tornado to run without a Chaos Emerald.”

“Oh! Tails! I didn’t realize you had gotten hurt so bad!” Sonic said as she quickly went over to Tails to try to help keep him steady.

“And I need to get the Emerald back to Angel Island. Typical Sonic, he always needs to be the first one to try and get everyone to run at his speed.” Knuckles quipped, picking up the emerald.

Sonic upon hearing that froze a little, something that Amy and Rouge both noticed her reaction. “Typical Sonic, _she’s_ always ready to rush off before anyone’s ready. Shadow’s the same way sometimes.” Rouge said with a chuckle, giving Amy a small nudge accompanied by a wink.

Knuckles and Tails both gave confused looks to the two of them. “Yeah, but that’s what I like about _her_ . _She_ has a can-do spirit that just makes you wanna pick your feet up and move faster. Typical Sonic, _she’s_ always ready to do the next right thing.” Amy said, picking up on Rouge’s ploy.

Sonic, upon hearing that, had her face flush red and that same warming confused feeling return. Tails’ confused look was then transfixed upon Sonic, who quickly tried to look away feeling slightly embarrassed. She dried to choke out a nervous laugh, but it mostly came out as a tepid cough. She then looked towards Knuckles, who was looking back towards her with a similar confused look to Tails’.

Tails pulled closer and started to whisper into Sonic’s ear, which she quickly reciprocated by whispering into his. She didn’t quite know what to tell him, and honestly, she didn’t quite know what to tell herself still. All she could let out was “I don’t even know. It just feels right.” into the fox’s ear. 

Immediately she was entrapped by a quick, and heavy hug by Tails. All Sonic could do was start gently petting the back of his head, barely containing tears and a smile. A few moments passed with Amy silently gushing at the scene, while Rouge continued to be amused by Knuckles’ continued confusion.

“So is somebody going to tell me what’s going on, or am I just supposed to stand here like an idiot?” Knuckles finally yelled, breaking the silence.

“Can’t you read the room? She’s having a moment!” Amy snapped back.

“See, that. That I don’t get. Why are you all talking about Sonic like he’s--”

“Knuckles, it’s okay.” Sonic spoke out, cutting him off “I’ll explain everything tomorrow. You get the Master Emerald home.”

“Right. World to save, I gotta go! Tell me all about it tomorrow!” Knuckles shouted as he darted out of Tails’ garage, lugging the Master Emerald as if it weighed nothing.

A few moments later, Sonic ended up just slumping over herself, letting out a hefty groan, “I don’t even know how to explain anything right now. Everyone else seems to know more about this gender stuff than I do.”

“I have been meaning to ask, Amy; how do you know so much about this? You’ve been handling it quite well. I didn’t expect that from you.” Rouge asked, turning her attention to Amy, who started to chuckle.

“I could say the same about you.” Amy started, “Well when you live in Central City as long as I have, you’re bound to meet people. There’s a girl who works at the grocery store near my house. We catch coffee and chat about this kinda stuff all the time. You?”

“Let’s just say we’ve had a few agents over at GUN who really got into some, let’s just say ‘deep’ undercover missions, and just liked it better that way afterward.” Rouge started laughing, “I’m often the one who signs their discharge papers. Some even with new names.”

Sonic just stared on with her head slightly tilted in confusion. “I don’t know all that much, all I know is sometimes people aren’t born the way they want to be.” Tails said, finally releasing his hug on Sonic, “I have some idea as to what that’s like.” he said, fluffing out his tails.

“Sometimes you learn to accept and even love the parts of you that make you scared to be different like I did,” he continued, “and sometimes you can’t, and that’s okay.”

“So I guess I’m stuck like this?” Sonic said, sounding slightly defeated as she sat down slumped into Tails’ chair.

“Not if you don’t want to be, Sonic.” Rouge started to explain, “There's a lot that goes into this. A lot that no one here is specifically versed to help you with."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Sonic said, laying her head in her palms.

"Start small." Rouge replied, "Unlike everything else in your life, I think things like medical procedures and medicines are the last thing you should run headfirst into."

"Wait.. you mean that you can -- there's a way I --" Sonic stammered.

"Time travel and a parallel dimension you've been to multiple times… and gender transition is where you have disbelief?" Rouge bluntly pointed out.

"Give me a break! I never even had thoughts like this until very recently!" Sonic said defensively almost panicky, "I've never looked into stuff like this! It's always Tails who does the research around here."

"Hey! Hey, it's okay… Breath, Sonic." Amy said as she got up and walked towards Sonic.

She put her hand on Sonic's cheek and gently kissed her brow. "This is a lot, I know." She said, stroking Sonic's fur.

"I'm still not even sure if I want to be a girl. Or go through all that -- Everything! I don't even know where to start…"

"Clothes are a good start, even though you're not one for wearing them now. Down the line, a little modesty might be required." Rouge said with a coy smile on her face.

"It can be my treat. It's been forever since I've done some retail therapy anyway." She said, flashing a GUN insignia ladened card.

"Oh! That sounds fun! Let's do it!" Amy squealed with glee, "What do you think, Sonic?"

"Don't we have a world to save? Shouldn't all of this wait until --" Sonic started.

"Sonic, it's going to take some time to get the Tornado ready. It's been a rough day, and it's getting late. I'm going to rest tonight before I even start to think about swapping the engine." Tails said, cutting her off.

"That translates to: 'We have time.' So, let's have a girls' day tomorrow! What do you say, doll? Would you like that?" Rouge asked with a wink.

Sonic's heart was pounding, and that same warm confusion continued to linger. All she managed to do was nod in agreement, which was accompanied by more giddiness from Amy. It wasn't long before more lingering anxiety returned, however. "Wait. Wouldn't everyone just look at me weird wearing girl clothes?" She said, growing more nervous.

"The whole planet knows you, silly. You've saved it countless times. They'd be staring anyway. I understand you're nervous, but it could be really fun." Amy said, returning to gently caressing Sonic’s face in a bid to calm her down again.

"I feel like I'd look weird trying everything on. I don't even look like a --" Sonic was cut off by Amy’s finger meeting her lips.

"I had a feeling you were going to go through that line of reasoning again," she said lifting Sonic's chin so their eyes met again, "do you trust me?"

"Of course I do Amy, but --" she was cut off again by Amy's finger yet again.

"Good, then. Because I have an idea that might help with all of this anxiety. But we have to go back to my house to get it ready." She explained calmly.

"If we leave now we can probably make it by midnight, and still get some decent sleep." She continued, taking Sonic's hands and standing her up.

Rouge started to yawn. "Speaking of, I haven't slept in days looking for Shadow. I could use a bit of a bat nap if we're hitting the town tomorrow!"

"You guys should get going then," Tails said as he gave Sonic another warm hug, "I'll come by and pick you three up outside Central City if you're not back by the time I finish the Tornado."

They all wished each other a good night, as Tails flew up to his bed above the garage. He watched from his bedside window as the girls all left the building. His eyes then lingered down towards the windowsill to a picture he had taken of himself and Sonic not too long after they met. 

He picked up the frame and took the photo out carefully. He started to cry when he read what he had written on it: "Me and my NEW Big Brother! I love him!!" 

He held the photo carefully to his chest as he drifted off to sleep.


	7. The Cinderella Effect

##  **VII**

_The Cinderella Effect_

Today, Sonic awoke to the soft sizzle and wavering smell of bacon, mixed in with hints of cinnamon from the various candles lit around Amy’s living room. Rouge had made herself at home, taking full advantage of the kitchen and making breakfast for everyone. Amy was sitting at her table sipping tea. She had rings strewn all over her table as well, along with a few Chaos drive crystals collected from various GUN robots over the years. Occasionally she’d pick up what looked like a small gilded acorn, and gently place it inside a ring, making the ring disappear as if it were being used up by the acorn.

Still groggy, Sonic rolled off the couch and towards the dining room adjacent to the kitchen. She didn’t unfurl until she hit the chair at the part of the table set for her, giving a hefty yawn and a stretch as she settled herself into the chair. Rouge placed a plate in front of her, and Sonic gave an earnest smile as thanks. “You know, Amy? I think this is the longest we’ve gotten along since we’ve met.” Rouge said while placing Amy’s plate beside her assorted knickknacks.

“Huh? I never noticed the two of you fighting?” Sonic said between bites of food.

“Wouldn’t call it fighting, we’ve just never had quality time together to get all communal, you know?” Rouge replied, sitting down herself to enjoy the fruits of her morning cooking.

“I see…” Sonic said, her attention shifting to Amy who was still focused on the acorn.

“I love what you’ve done with the place, by the way. It’s been some time since I’ve been here, not quite the ‘dump’ I called it back then.” Rouge continued, still very much trying to speak to Amy. 

“She’s been like this all morning,” she explained, her attention turning to Sonic, “I’m not entirely sure what she’s up to, but it’s got her somewhere in lala zone.” the bat said with a bit of a laugh.

“How long has she been up?” Sonic said with visible concern on her face.

“Not as long as I have, if that helps,” Rouge replied, hoping that would calm Sonic down.

The two of them then began to calmly eat their meals, before they were both given a startle from a modestly loud “Aha! It’s done!” from Amy.

“What’s done?” Sonic asked pensively, realizing that this had to be related to her “idea” that she had the night prior.

“This, my Darling Sonic, is the temporary answer to your anxiety about being in public!” she said, raising the golden acorn by the necklace string it was attached to.

“An acorn?” Sonic said, glaring in disbelief.

“Not just any acorn. Of all the various mystical knickknacks I’ve collected over the years, this one is hands down my favorite,” she said, placing it in front of Sonic.

“Its magic runs off Chaos Energy from the Chaos Emeralds. I also had to charge it with some rings to give it a little bit of a boost since we don’t have Tails’ fake emerald or any of the real ones. I wanted to see if these fake chaos crystals from those G.U.N. robots could work too, and sure enough, they do.” she continued to explain.

“I’m going to ignore that you have government property just casually sitting on your kitchen table, love,” Rouge exclaimed jokingly.

“You know, I was tasked with sneaking into that little garage of his to get the plans to that fake emerald to make our chaos drives more powerful. But fox boy’s encryptions make Eggman’s seem like a childproof lock in comparison.” she continued.

Sonic chuckled, “Yeah, he even writes his code in his own cant too. He’s really proud of how many people he keeps out of our business.” she said proudly.

“Don’t say too much now, I might start getting ideas,” Rogue replied coyly.

Sonic then belted out a hearty laugh, “Good luck with that! He’s let one of Eggman’s hacker bots live in our basement for the past seven months and it still hasn’t gotten past the startup screen!”

“Give me a week with Fly Boy and I’ll know his little language like the back of my hand,” Rouge said with a smirk.

Amy let out an attention-getting cough, and the two stopped their banter. “Look, I put a lot of work getting this little thing ready, but I need you to hear me out okay?”

Sonic cautiously nodded her head, to which Amy then set the necklace into her palm. “This acorn was used for ceremonies or theatrics in an old kingdom some time ago. It has the power to utilize Chaos Energy to alter the appearance of whoever is wearing it,” she explained.

Sonic’s face drifted into her hands looking at the golden seed. “I normally only put a few rings in at a time, and use it for quick outfit planning…” she paused to think, then let out a small laugh, “I guess it’s silly to use such a powerful ancient artifact for something so small.”

“So… you’re saying this necklace can--” Sonic started to speak before Amy closed her hands around the necklace.

“Yes. For a day, by my guess. That’s all it really can muster, and there’s no telling how well it will hold up given I had to use artificial chaos energy. But it’s entirely up to you if you wear it today. You seem scared about being seen in public ‘not looking the part,’ this is the best way I can think to contain your anxiety about going out with us today.” Amy said, returning to her tea.

“How does it work?” Sonic said hesitantly.

“You picture what you want to be in your mind, and then you put it on,” Amy said bluntly.

“But what if I don’t like it? What if I --” She stammered.

“Then take it off,” Amy replied between sips.

Rouge began to chuckle, “Sonic, dear, I think that means the ball is in your court. If you want to wear it, or not. That’s not our decision to make.”

Her heart was pumping harder than any point before in her life. All the times she’d almost died or watched her friends almost die as well, all the heights she’s flown, all the new worlds she’s run across. Nothing compared to the sheer weight of the nearly weightless necklace in her palms. It may be only temporary, but deep down she knew that putting it on meant she’d be signing up for something not so temporary. She also knew she couldn’t resist.

She didn’t give much thought about how she wanted to look. Why would she? She just wanted to look like herself, whoever that was. She could only think to herself about how little she cared, as long as she could still feel like herself afterward.

As she latched the necklace around the nape of her neck, she felt the familiar warmth of the Chaos Emeralds she’d grown accustomed to from going Super so often. It was still largely different, being artificial chaos energy after all, but it in no way compared to the massive negativity brought about by the real Chaos Emerald she threw away in fear just yesterday.

The oddest thing is after the warmth faded, she didn’t feel or notice much difference at all, but she could immediately feel two sets of eyes on her.

“Oh… Wow. Sonic, I --” was all Amy could let out as she blushed and turned away.

Rouge chuckled, “I know you don’t normally wear them, but don’t you think today of all days you could’ve maybe pictured yourself in some actual clothes for once? A woman has to have some modesty!” she teased.

“Oh, so I do look weird. Great.” Sonic pouted, hearing a slightly different voice in her ear as she crossed her arms across her chest -- Which was when she noticed quite the difference that had caught the other two girls’ attention. 

“Oh…”

She stood up and looked all around herself, in bewildered amazement. The necklace worked! She didn’t feel any different than before, but she definitely looked different. If anything she kind of felt better, she felt comfortable. She couldn’t help but do a small hop and dance in place in subtle joy. When a quick rush of anxiety flew through her mind.

Amy watched on with amusement but quickly noticed a shift in Sonic’s demeanor when she clasped the necklace in her hand. “Sonic, what’s wrong?” she asked with genuine confusion.

“This feels like cheating…” she said, almost somberly.

“Well, it is.” Rouge interjected bluntly, “But think about how good you feel now? Imagine how good it will feel when you get to this yourself? Even if you’re still unsure how to feel about this, think of it as a trial run to see if being a woman is really for you?”

“I guess so…” Sonic replied, loosening her grip on the necklace.

“Here, come with me,” Amy said, grabbing Sonic’s hands and leading her to her room.

She sat Sonic down and opened her dresser, pulling out a measuring tape “In all honesty, we should’ve done this first since we’re buying you clothes and all, but you still look around the same size in that regard,” she paused as she started to blush again, “It’s… uh… The other areas that we need to get a sense of size for.”

Sonic could only help but nervously laugh as she tried to rub her nose in its usual spot -- Noticing much of her face had become just slightly smaller. She looked around Amy’s room, it was the first time she had ever seen it, she looked across towards the vanity and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

That warm confusion feeling washed over her again, as she once again saw that girl looking back at her in the mirror. The same one from yesterday, except today there wasn’t that lingering feeling of pain or any presence of doubt. Even if it was only for today, she knew she’d find a way to feel this way again, to look this way again after the magic from the acorn is supposed to wear off.

“Alright, arms up.” Amy said, coming closer to Sonic with the measuring tape ready, “This is going to be a little cold, okay?”

Calmly, yet briefly, Amy took Sonic’s measurements, when she finished she let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. “So, nothing I have will fit you up top -- But I do have some bottoms you can probably get by borrowing. So take that as the good news.”

“What’s the bad news?” Sonic asked, sounding slightly worried.

“Running might be a bad idea today, at least until we find you a decent sports bra that fits,” Amy said, now rummaging through her shirts.

“What do you mean?” Sonic replied, now just confused.

“She means your assets might make it a bit uncomfortable to move at high speeds given how large they are. Honestly, I was expecting more tomboy petite from you.” Rouge spoke up from the door frame.

“What? They’re not that big… are they?” Sonic said, cupping her chest in her hands, “It’s not like I had anything specific in mind, I just -- I wanted to be comfortable.”

“If you say so, more power to you. But we should hurry, girls, we’re burning our daylight when I could be burning government funds.” Rouge said as she turned back out and walked into the living room.

“Here.” Amy said, chucking a pair of jeans with some underwear, along with a shirt over at Sonic who barely caught it all, “That shirt is a little too big for me, but it should fit you just fine. The pants? We’ll see. I know you’re not big on those, but I’m not letting you walk around with your tush hanging out.”

Sonic took off her shoes, again noticing they too were slightly changed a lighter red than normal but other than that, they looked like the same worn shoes she’s had for years, even down to some of the same wear on the soles where her feet always skid along asphalt. It took a bit of patience once she got the shirt and underwear on, but she managed to finally get into the jeans Amy intended for her to borrow for the day. The small hole in the back for her tail was a huge plus for comfort.

Once her shoes were back on, she tried to stretch as she normally does before a run to the instant realization that while the jeans she was wearing fit very well, they fit snuggly enough to constrict her movement. Slightly disappointed, but not dissuaded Sonic once again caught a look at herself in the mirror. She’d worn clothes before, of course, but this felt different. Her palm began to rest on the necklace around her neck, it was still giving off a silent hum, and the warmth of chaos energy. She silently wished to herself a way to make a day last forever, but she knew that wasn’t an option. But what were her options? Her mind was racing faster than she was, lost in her thoughts about just what to do after the day was up. She was only brought back to solid ground with a firm shake to her shoulder. “Hey, are you alright? Rouge has been yelling at us for a few minutes now. Saying she’s gonna leave without us.” Amy said warmly.

“Come on, I think I know a place that’s just your style!” She said, as she once again took Sonic’s hand.

She had done that a lot in the past two days, Sonic had only just realized how often she was the one doing the following. It was different, but she didn’t mind. It seemed like Amy didn’t mind a second of it either, especially with Sonic herself not pulling away once. You can’t always be the leader when you don’t know where you’re going after all. 

The mid-morning sun was just starting to reach through Amy’s windows, waking up her plants. Rouge was impatiently waiting at the door as the two walked back into the living room. She gave them her trademark wink as she then went on her way outside. Sonic and Amy followed suit, ready to tackle the day ahead.


	8. Still Can't Quite Explain It

##  **VIII**

_ Still Can’t Quite Explain It _

A few hours had gone by and it was just about time for the mid-morning rush. The early sun shone down on the three as they walked down a strip of stores in Central City’s commercial district. The varied assortment of boutiques and specialty stores was nothing short of overwhelming for Sonic. By now, she guessed she had already ran up and down this way alone dozens of times running through the city in the past, only this time she was completely out of her element. It all seemed foreign, almost like she didn’t belong. Towing behind Amy and Rouge, her eyes were set mostly on the ground.

Amy, noticing this, made sure not to let Rouge get too far ahead of the two of them, even though it was mostly unavoidable at this point. She had already accumulated three full bags and was sporting a new leather jacket, hoping somehow to jam it all into Tails’ plane once it arrived. Sonic and Amy felt more ride-alongs than a part of the fun. “Are you sure about this, Amy? I mean -- Tails might have the Tornado ready by now,” Sonic finally said, breaking the silence.

“He might,” Amy replied, “but he also seemed really intent on giving us time to have a girl’s day. Also, given his leg? I don’t think he’s gonna be quick about fixing the Tornado either.”

By this point, Sonic was feeling a little disheartened. They’d already covered half the stores, and it seemed like Rouge and Amy were more intent on playing dress-up doll with her, than let her find stuff she was comfortable in. Everything either fit too tightly, or just didn’t elicit any sort of positive feelings from her. She did enjoy how a lot of it looked on her, and it’s not like she wasn’t having fun. That didn’t change the fact a lot of the clothes she had tried on so far felt too constrictive, and not up to her, well, speed.

“We’ve just been doing this all morning, I’m starting to get --” Sonic began to speak before Amy cut in.

“I get it, this is your first time out like this, and you’re nervous,” Amy said putting an arm on Sonic’s shoulder.

She then began to lift up the acorn necklace in her palm. “I knew no matter what sort of magic stuff I did, you’d still feel nervous about this, and that’s normal,” Amy began, “but it’s not like you’ve said no to anything so far, right?”

“No, I haven’t. But that doesn’t exactly mean I’ve found anything that I want to wear either,” Sonic replied, giving Amy a slightly annoyed look.

“You say that like you didn’t pick out that ball gown yourself. I have a matching one, you know?” Amy said, giving yet another devilish grin causing Sonic to blush.

“Okay? But it’s not like we’ve bought any of it--”

“I’ve bought just about everything you’ve tried on,” Rouge interrupted, “I’m honestly surprised you haven’t noticed by now.”

“Wait? What?” Amy asked, shocked.

Rouge finally came to a stop and turned to the two hedgehogs who were both looking at her in disbelief. “I said it was my treat, right? While the two of you have been playing chicken and flirting, I told the clerks to pay attention to what Sonic was trying on and handed them my card. What I’m not carrying right now should be sent to Amy’s apartment later.”

“What do you mean, ‘everything?’” Amy asked with extreme concern.

“I get a big budget every month, and surprise to no one, a super hedgehog running on chaos energy doesn’t need a massive military budget to accomplish anything,” Rouge explained, “If I don’t spend it, it gets reduced.”

“Isn’t that egregious embezzling?” Sonic asked with a deadpan look.

“Last I checked the world is in danger, and one of the only people on this whole planet who can possibly help save it spent five minutes staring through a glass window at a silver dress she didn’t even try on!” Rouge replied bluntly, “If anything I can consider this whole trip a business expense.”

Amy couldn’t help but giggle while Sonic, notably embarrassed, started to kick at the ground, “She’s got you on that one. C’mon! You’ve been having fun, admit it!”

All Sonic could do was try to avoid eye contact and flick at her nose, “I mean, yeah. But you both are forgetting a pretty big problem,” she said pointing to her necklace, “I don’t think I’m going to feel comfortable wearing much of anything once this wears off.”

“While I understand, the constant worrying is starting to give me a headache, Sonic,” Rouge said rubbing between her eyes, “Nobody worth your time is going to think less of you for wearing your own clothes, regardless of how you look.”

“Okay, but, if she’s not ready to be out like this under normal circumstances, then she’s not ready. Ease up a bit, will you? Besides it’s not like I can’t just -- Oh no,” Amy said, as she slowly went up to Sonic to examine the acorn hanging off of her necklace.

“Uh… ‘Oh no,’ what?” Sonic asked with no shortage of concern.

“Darn! It’s cracking,” Amy said with a pout, “I had a feeling this would happen using the fake chaos energy.”

“Oh…” Sonic whispered somberly, “Should I take it off? I know it’s one of your favorite --”

“Oh, please,” Amy said, gently placing a finger on Sonic’s lips once again, “If it helps you feel better about yourself, then I’m fine if I can’t use it anymore.”

“This tension between you two is killing me, part of me just wishes you’d kiss already!” Rouge teased as the two hedgehogs both began to blush profusely.

“My feet are killing me, so I’m going to have a nice rest at that plaza over there,” she continued, pointing to the middle of the mall they were walking through, “Why don’t you show Sonic here that place you said was ‘just her style?’ Might be able to find something she’d be comfortable wearing after her little cheat code wears off. I really doubt she’d want to run around naked after today.”

“Oh! Right, I completely forgot!” Amy exclaimed slamming her fist into her palm.

She quickly grabbed Sonic by the hand, “Come on! It’s just around the corner!” she said waving Rouge goodbye as she yawned and left for the nearby benches.

“Hey! Amy! Where are you taking me?” Sonic yelped, surprised by how sudden and forceful she was being pulled by Amy. 

“You’ll see! You’re gonna love it!” Amy replied, loosening her tug once she realized her excitement was just a little too high.

The two came to a stop just outside a small boxing gym called “The Blistered Gauntlet,” Amy took a few steps forward and then turned to face a very confused Sonic.

“Welcome to my Tomboy Oasis here in Central City! My sanctuary where I can unwind, and cut loose! Please be mindful of the girls in the ring, they do not very much like to be disturbed mid-fight,” she excitedly said, showing off the building.  
“I don’t understand? Why pull me all the way here?” Sonic asked.

Amy’s face morphed to disappointment as she began to pout, still maintaining her dramatic pose showing off the building. “Because you need something you can run in,” she said, crossing her arms, “and I was hoping showing you around a bit might finally give me someone else to gal around here with.”

Sonic chuckled nervously as she stepped forward into the building with Amy now happily in tow. Once inside the two were greeted by an open ring with two fighters engaged in a sparring match. One of the women stopped and gave a warm smile to the two hedgehogs before promptly getting a firm jab to the face. “Okay! Okay! Time out,” she screamed shaking off the blow.

She promptly took off her gloves and ran to hop the ropes of the boxing ring. It wasn’t long before the two were towered over by the large figure. She was a wolf, say about between Amy and Sonic’s ages, but this was one of the rare occasions where Sonic felt small. She had a good foot of height above Sonic, and was equally built to match. “Well well well… If it ain’t our number one contender! I ain’t seen you in my gym for months, Rascal. You here to get back into classes or join that big tournament openin’ up?” the wolf said, eager for an answer.

“It’s nice to see you too, Lottie, I’m actually here for her.” Amy replied pushing Sonic towards the imposing wolf.

“Hey, nice of you to bring a friend n’ all. But you said you’d bring the angry red one again! I was achin’ for a rematch!” Lottie said, stifling a laugh.

“Oh, that Knucklehead? He’s easy if you dodge his first jabs, he leaves himself open since he doesn’t anchor himself,” Sonic said joining in on the subtle laughter, “after that, he’s pretty easy to keep tripped up.”

“Oh, you know the guy, eh?” the wolf replied before looking Sonic up and down, “Say you look familiar… Got a name?”

Sonic just chuckled before doing one of her overdramatic hero poses, “Sonic. Sonic the --”

She was immediately cut off by the roaring laughter coming from Lottie, “Oh, Amy! I knew you were a prankster. But this takes the cake!”

Amy just gave a look to Sonic who looked slightly distressed. “What would’a big hero like him be doing walkin’ in to some ladies only gym? You could maybe pass for his sister or somethin’ but--” she was cut off by Amy casually walking up to her and whispering in her ear the briefest explanation possible.

“Oh jeez, I’m a total idiot. I am so sorry, Sonic, ma’am! I--” she said, rubbing the back of her head embarrassed by the situation.

“It’s okay,” was all Sonic could respond with, as she didn’t quite know how to respond to something like that.

“I just wanna say thank you. You saved my little sis’ back in Station Square somethin’ like 5 years ago now? Look whatever you need, it’s on-the-house, I can even set you up a membership with Skai in the office.” Lottie said, still scrambling to ease the situation.

“Oh! That’d be great! But what she really needs right now is something easier to run in, is the sportswear section open?” Amy asked, trying not to laugh much to Lottie’s dismay.

The wolf just pointed to the other end of the gym where a few mannequins were set up before turning around and hopping back into the boxing ring. The bell sounded off and the fight resumed. “You heard what she said ‘big hero,’ it’s on-the-house.” Amy said, gesturing to Sonic to follow her.

“That’s the first time that’s ever happened,” Sonic said slightly confused, “I guess I never thought about how… well…”

“Never thought about how you saving people ends up affecting others? I’m sure if you slowed down to talk to people every once in a while you’d get nothing but thanks from all across the world,” Amy said warmly as she looked through the clothing section.

Sonic’s thoughts went trailing once again, that was also the first time she had been “ma’am’ed,” it wasn’t something she was adverse to by any means, but she didn’t ever see herself in the position that honorific qualified for her. In fact, this whole experience today of the world responding to her and treating her as a ‘her,’ still felt somewhat foreign. She wasn’t going to stop anyone, obviously, but she still couldn’t quite explain her feelings, to anyone else especially herself.

Her train of thought was immediately derailed as Amy quickly yanked and pulled off Sonic’s shirt, causing a high pitched yelp to leave the hedgehog’s mouth. To which Amy let out an uncontrollable laughter, “That was cute! I wasn’t expecting that reaction from you!”

“Amy! Everyone can see us from here!” Sonic whispered slightly, panicking.

Amy just looked around and shrugged. “A few things though, they all seem incredibly busy as is, plus we’re all girls! Where was this sense of modesty earlier this morning in my room?”

Sonic just pensively gave up and glared at Amy, who had once again taken up that devilish smirk she’d put on so often the past while. It wasn’t long before a sports bra was thrown at Sonic’s face. “Here,” Amy said while tossing a pair of running shorts and the t-shirt back at Sonic, “put that on, and take a few laps around the gym and tell me if it’s alright for you?”

She held up the bra and looked at it backward and forwards, clearly confused, “I thought they were supposed to have latches?”

Amy just let out a soft sigh in response to that question, “Right, we never did get you to try any bras until now, did we? You kept shying away from them insisting you were fine.”

She moved in closer to Sonic and put her hand against her back, “Alright, slip it on and bend over a bit.”

Sonic didn’t find it too difficult to put on, maybe a little tighter than she thought it should be. She was quickly caught off guard by Amy’s hand suddenly plunging into the bra’s cups, however. “A-Amy!” she let out.

“Oh calm down! I’m not doing anything. I had you bend over so we could get you settled in the cups right,” Amy said, trying to adjust Sonic’s breasts to fill the cups properly, “you have to make sure you’re set in them right or you’re going to be nothing but uncomfortable later. Trust me. You’re going to thank me later.”

Suddenly the sports bra didn’t feel too tight anymore, it was snug, but to Sonic it didn’t feel too constricting like all the other snug clothing she had worn today. It wasn’t long until she had swapped Amy’s jeans for the running shorts. After a few quick stretches she set off around the gym. Once she came back from the quick run, she could barely contain how comfortable she felt and did another small dance in place. Amy just looked on warmly as Sonic put on the t-shirt from before. The two were quickly startled by a nearby knock. “Hey, uh… Is everyone alright back here? We heard a lot of yellin’ just now.” Lottie asked with concern on her face peeking in from the entryway of the gym’s shopping section.

“Everything’s fine, Lottie. Ms. First Time here is just really nervous.” Amy said, waving her away.

“Ah, I see. Don’t go walkin’ out of here with those shorts without the jacket to match. You won’t believe how annoyed Skai gets when she does inventory and the sets aren’t sold at the same time!” Lottie said, laughing. 

Amy just nodded and quickly pulled down the matching jacket to Sonic’s shorts and handed it to her. She put it on and stretched her arms out to make sure it wouldn’t affect her running at all. It was at that point she noticed her glove was still slightly torn from yesterday when she ripped it with the Chaos Emerald. Amy also noticed this and went to find her a new pair of gloves. The bell of the boxing ring once again rang signifying another round started by the time she had found a similar enough pair to what she was wearing.

“I think she should go before we stir up more trouble don’t you, Sonic?” Amy said as she started to walk her way out of the gym.

Sonic just nodded and quickly walked right next to Amy’s side, and the two left the building together. The sun hit them both in the face as they did. It had to have been a bit past noon at that point.

The two walked a bit in silence before Amy started humming happily. “What is it?” Sonic asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just… Reflecting on how nice it’s been spending so much time with you.” Amy replied nodding to the song in her head.

Sonic just chuckled and kept walking. “So, are you ready to talk about it?” Amy asked, coming to a quick stop.

“Huh?” Sonic asked, stopping and turning around to face Amy.

“What you said yesterday. About you having feelings for me too?”

“Yeah… I did say that didn’t I?” Sonic replied, sounding defeated.

“You say that like you didn’t mean it…” Amy said somberly as she sank a little.

“No, no! I did mean it… It’s just… It doesn’t really mean much now, does it? You’ve always known me as a guy, and I just assume you only ever liked me as that ‘Cool Guy Sonic,’ and -- I’m not. I --” Sonic stammered, trying to find the reasoning she was looking for.

“You really don’t get it, do you Sonic? All I ever liked about you, is that you are you,” Amy emphasized, “I’ll stand by you no matter what you look like, as long as you’re still you.”

She came in much closer into Sonic’s face and put her hand against her cheek. “Girl, boy, gelatinous goop? None of that matters to me. It’s you that I love, Sonic. And right now,” she paused, “you’re an even happier you than I’ve ever seen you be. That only makes me love you more.”

“I-- I love you too, Amy,” Sonic softly said, struggling to keep her words together as she went in for a kiss, which was nearly instantly reciprocated.

The two stood there staring at each other, holding the other’s hands for quite some time before they were brought back down to solid ground by a loud yell of glee. “Finally! Watching you two has been unbearable!” Rouge screamed while walking up to the two hedgehogs.

“Hey! How long have you been watching us?” Amy asked, trying to conceal her embarrassment.

“Long enough,” Rouge replied, “Come on, I just saw Tails fly over in that plane of his. Looks like our shopping day is officially over, ladies.”

Sonic, having regained her composure chuckled and again rubbed her nose before running off to find Tails. Amy just let out a contented sigh, as the brightest smile came across her face. “She sure set off without letting us have any room to catch up. Some things never change, do they?” Rouge asked chuckling as she sprawled out her wings and started to fly.

“No. They don’t,” Amy replied, “and I can’t begin to say how happy I am for that.”


	9. Visions From the Past

##  **IX**

_ Visions From the Past _

It didn’t take long for Amy and Rouge to find where Tails had landed the Tornado. Sonic was already there helping prepare the jet for flight again. Amy noticed right away that Tails was still struggling on his leg, even with his crutch, so he mostly stuck to flying. It had a brace on it now, which gave the realization that it was more than just a sprain. Sonic gave them both a wave before she ran to the other side of the Tornado to check its fuel and then ran over to Rouge to grab two of the clothing bags and take them to the open side compartment.

"There you guys are!" Tails said as he flew over to greet them.

The mood was immediately ruined when he landed. His leg brace buckled, and he let out a piercing scream of pain as he fell to the ground. The sound was immediately followed by the gust of wind trailing behind Sonic as in a blink she was already kneeled down to check on the poor fox. "Are you alright, buddy?" She asked him warmly, cautious to try and help pick him up. 

"We talked about this, didn't we? I don't even know why you're wearing this thing," she said, extending her arm out to help Tails lift himself up.

"I thought I adjusted it to my height, it's not like I'd be going as fast as you were when you wore it," Tails explained as he struggled to regain his footing.

"Yeah, and I ended up having to go Super just to heal from the crash I took when it buckled on me just like it did to you now," Sonic replied slightly annoyed tapping her foot, "it's still a prototype. I said I'd test it more for you."

"It looks like any old foot brace, is there something special about it?" Rouge asked unimpressed.

"It's supposed to be a kinetic amplifier, it stores energy while I run so when I eventually kick something it releases and adds the force," Sonic explained, "but it couldn't handle the stress the last time I wore it."

"It was the only thing I could find to help me walk," Tails said, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed, "I guess I focused on making it fit me rather than working out the kinks in it."

"What am I going to do with you?" Sonic chuckled, rubbing the top of Tails' head.

Amy looked on warmly at the tender moment. She'd always appreciated how well Sonic cared for Tails, but it seemed so much sweeter than usual today. Her thoughts seemed to linger on disappointment once she realized she missed seeing Tails' initial reactions to Sonic as a girl. Did they talk about it? If so, what? She guessed it must have gone well enough, seeing as they're acting business-as-usual. 

"I guess if that's everything, then we should be ready to go," Tails said as he took to the air to get off his leg.

"I count two seats and four of us," Rouge pointed out, "I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but I am simply not going to try and keep up flying with y'all!"

Both Sonic and Tails gave each other a confused look and then back towards Amy and Rouge. "I mean, Knuckles and I usually just hop on the wings when someone needs to tag along," Sonic started, "but I guess we've never thought about the seating situation."

Amy pondered over this for a moment, and then shrugged as she climbed up to the Tornado and maneuvered atop to the wings. She was trying to balance herself like a trapeze artist as she attempted to anchor herself. Sonic seeing this quickly jumped up to help her. "Here," Sonic said, holding her by the waist to try and help her maintain balance, "the trick is to anchor into the front of the plane with your feet."

Feeling like she had it figured out now, Amy gestured for Sonic to let her go. At which point, she immediately started to fall backward, with Sonic quickly catching her. "How about you try to hold on to the front of the wings instead? We can practice this again later," Sonic said earnestly, "if you're having this much of a problem standing while we're parked, I don't want to know how you'll handle it up in the air."

Determined, however, Amy once again tried to find a good balance on top of the wings. This time succeeding, she gave a proud pose as a silent 'told-you-so.' The moment was short-lived as Sonic playfully took a step back and caused the weight of the plane to shift. It was just sudden enough to knock Amy off balance once again, this time actually falling off the wings. Sonic managed to catch her quickly, realizing her prank was a tad bit too far. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall." She said, jumping back onto the plane with Amy still firmly in her arms.

Amy quickly regained her composure as best as she could, despite the situation having left her quite flustered. Sonic let her down and she finally gave in and decided to just hold on to the wings. “You two are certainly something,” Rouge said climbing into the passenger seat, “not even together a solid half-hour, and you’re already making me jealous.”

“Wait, huh? She didn’t mention that part about today,” Tails started as he climbed into the pilot seat, “then again, she’s mostly been trying to get the Tornado ready all by herself not wanting me on my leg so much.”

“Well if I knew it was broken I would’ve run to get the Tornado myself,” Sonic replied.

"But I'm fine, Sonic. Really!" Tails groaned frustrated.

"She's just looking out for you, Tails. Big sister instincts! They’re hard to fight sometimes! C'mon, we should get going," Amy said, trying to ease the situation.

Sonic seemed at ease by being referred to as Tails’ sister for a change, she liked it. Tails just nodded and started up the Tornado, and the four of them were then set on their way to Angel Island to regroup with Knuckles. The flight was slower than normal, given the Tornado’s lack of a Chaos Emerald for fuel, but that only gave Sonic and Amy more time to talk with Tails about the day they all had. Meanwhile Rouge managed to zone out into another quick nap, once again noting the past few days haven’t given her much time to rest.

Once on the island, they made their way through the jungles to find the cliff entrance to Hydro City. It was still filled with water, but it wasn’t by any means flooded as it was just the other day when Tails was last there. Knuckles had already done them all a favor by lighting the many torches leading to the altar room.

“Oh wow,” Amy exclaimed, “I never knew a place like this could even exist on Angel Island!”

“Watch your step,” Sonic said, stopping her from stepping on a loose brick and pointing out a few of the other sections which were now falling apart, “this place’s age is starting to show.”

“You three go ahead,” Rouge said, “I’m interested in exploring this place! Who knows what treasures I can find and add to my collection?!”

“Of course you are,” the other three said in unison.

Unsurprised and slightly annoyed, they watched Rouge take off in a frenzy to hunt for treasure in the ancient city. They arrived to find Knuckles sitting silently in front of the Master Emerald, meditating. “You’re here late,” he said, opening one of his eyes, “but at least you showed up. I was getting worried for a minute.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Sonic said, as she stopped in front of Knuckles, “We got kinda tied up, and the Tornado was flying slower than usual.”

Knuckles stood up and said nothing as he eyed Sonic up and down. “Uh, everything okay buddy? Oh, right! I--” Sonic said before immediately being interrupted by a gruff grunt from Knuckles.

“We need to talk. Follow me,” he said, as he turned to a nearby hallway.

It took a few seconds for her to register what had just happened before quickly starting to catch up to Knuckles who already had a bit of a head start. “Look, I was going to tell you about this yesterday. I just wasn’t sure exactly what words to say -- All of this is still very new to me.” she vigorously tried to explain as the two of them walked down the dimly lit hallway.

Knuckles maintained silence, much to Sonic’s dismay. Her eyes transfixed on the ground as she started to tag along feeling defeated. “Look, I get it must be strange seeing me like this. We’ve known each other for almost a decade now,” she started, once again trying to get a response from Knuckles, “maybe a part of you feels like I’ve been lying to you all this time. But I’m still me, I promise.”

“I don’t care about that. Especially not now,” Knuckles said as they entered a fairly large room.

“What I do care about, however,” he said pointing to the large centerpiece statue, “is this.”

Confused, Sonic looked up and was instantly taken aback by the large statue that looked not only just like her, as many of the other statues in the city did, but just like her as she was now. It was a young hedgehog woman, wearing a cloak and extending her arms with a Chaos Emerald inside of her hands. A strange feeling washed over Sonic as she felt compelled to walk closer to the statue. “I don’t understand…” she said as she touched the base of the statue, feeling a familiar warmth resonate from it the moment she touched it.

“I always knew there was something I recognized about you, Sonic. It didn’t make any sense until I saw you just now,” Knuckles said, also placing his hand upon the statue.

“But who is this? Why does she feel so much… Like me?” Sonic asked, looking desperately to Knuckles for answers.

Knuckles just shook his head, confirming he had no answers to give. But a soft voice echoed through the corridor, as Tikal’s spirit entered the room. “Perhaps maybe I can help,” she said warmly, “please, breath calmly and prepare yourselves.”

A bright light began to emanate from the statue and engulfed the three of them, Sonic held her hand to her face as an attempt to shield herself from the light. Once her eyes were adjusted she could see her hand was now blocking the brightness of the Sun peeking through the clouded sky. She was sitting in what looked like an open-air plaza close to the edge of the village. She looked around and noticed that she once again was in the Mystic Ruins of the past, however this time the village was much smaller. The temple in the center was still being constructed, however, it was about half the size it would later become. She took another look around and found that the table next to her had multiple flower necklaces in various stages of completion. Along with one of the Chaos Emeralds sitting on the table where she was sitting. Her analysis of the area led to her checking herself, only to see she was wearing the same cloak as the statue back in the present was.

She stood up and continued to survey the area, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of Knuckles or Tikal, if either of them were even brought to the same place that she was, that is. Why would Tikal bring them all the way to the past again, instead of just telling them what was going on? Sonic just shook her head in confusion. Still trying to assess the situation, she crossed her arms and pensively tried to think about what to do next.

Her attention was then caught by a tugging feeling on her cloak, she turned and saw a small echidna child looking up at her. She was almost bouncing with excitement holding up a crudely put together flower necklace. “Lady Azu! Look! I did it! I did it!”

Sonic began to feel strange and began to act on what seemed impulse as if someone else was in control of her movements and words. “Wow! You sure did! And such a good job too,” Sonic replied, as she knelt down to meet the small girl in the eyes.

“Here,” she said, taking the necklace, “how about I wear this one to the ceremony later tonight?”

The little girl continued to bounce and beam with joy as Sonic looped the flower necklace around her neck. “It is true, Lady Azu? Will you really bring my mother back?” the small child asked, with a slight sadness in her voice.

“I’ll certainly try, Tani,” Sonic replied, gently stroking the young girl’s head, “I begin my journey to bring light back to the world tomorrow. As long as the Master Emerald stays within the village, you all should be safe.”

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you!” Knuckles shouted from behind her.

“Hey! Don’t yell at Lady Azu like that!” Tani screamed in retaliation, snapping Sonic out of the trance she was placed in.

“Right… uh… Lady Azu? I was told by the Chief that he needed to speak with you about the ceremony tonight.” Knuckles said, pretending to be scared to humor the small child who had yelled at him.

“Don’t worry about Knucklehead here, he’s joining me to travel the world tomorrow!” Sonic said as she chuckled.

She stood up and felt compelled once again to grab the Chaos Emerald on the table. She was then caught in Tani's embrace as she began to cry. “Please bring my mother back soon! I miss her.”

Sonic wiped the young girl’s tears away and gave her a warm hug in return, before returning to Knuckles. “I know what you’re about to ask, and no I have no clue what any of that was all about,” Sonic said as the two of them made their way to the edge of the village where the Chief and a few shamans sat around the beginnings of a shrine where the Master Emerald and the other six Chaos Emeralds sat.

“So you’ve finally answered my call, I see Tani has taken a liking to you,” the Chief said as he turned around to greet both Sonic and Knuckles, “Lady Azu, please don’t let your guilt about her mother cloud your duty tonight.”

“But I could have saved her! I should have saved her! I wasn’t fast enough! I still can, I just have to try harder!” Sonic frantically shouted, once again being placed into a trance.

Knuckles looked on confused as Tikal’s orb slowly made its way down from the sky and flew around him. “We’re reliving a day in her past life, Knuckles. She can’t change anything that happens today. That’s also true for how she, as Lady Azu, responds to everyone.”

“You know full well that anyone who gets consumed by Dur’Aza’s darkness changes. There’s nothing more than can be done for her! We can’t risk you running out of the safety of the Master Emerald’s light before you receive Kali’s blessing tonight!” the Chief shouted in return.

“But if you just let me try? I might be able to cleanse them from the darkness!”

“Or you can become consumed by your own despair like the rest of them, and we can’t risk your life, Manonītā,” one of the shamans stepped forth.

“That’s all I am to you,” Sonic responded, filled with rage, “The ‘Chosen One!’ If I’m so important you’d let me try and find a way to cleanse the darkness without some silly ceremony!”

“Please, understand. It’s not just you who needs the blessing for safety. The rest of your travel companions will need it as well,” another shaman spoke up, “now please, may we have back the magic gem you took before you ran out of the village last night?

“As you wish,” Sonic said, giving the emerald in the same pose as the statue back in the present.

“I see you’re already getting acquainted with those who elected to join you on your journey,” the Chief said, as he turned to Knuckles, “treat her well, General. We entrust you with her safety starting tomorrow morning.”

Knuckles just stared in confusion as Tikal walked around him, “Don’t worry, Chief Rhudi, we’ll make sure Lady Azu isn’t harmed as she journeys to save the world.”

“Thank you, priestess,” the Chief said, as he turned back around and continued to pray to the eight emeralds.

Knuckles then noticed Sonic’s face sink as she turned around and began walking away. “Hey! What’s wrong?” he asked running to catch up to her.

“Something doesn’t feel right about today. It feels like trouble’s coming.” She said giving Knuckles a concerned look.

Tikal, who had yet to leave her physical form, began to look with concern. “That’s impossible. We’re only in a vision of the past given by the Fates, tonight is supposed to be a night of joyous music and --”

She was cut off by a large crash of thunder, as a bolt of lightning struck in the air and cascaded with the sky, revealing that the Master Emerald was keeping the village in a protective bubble. The electricity spread across the dome and reached down into the Master Emerald, causing it to shatter.

“No! This is all wrong! This isn’t how this day happened! I don’t understand what’s going on,” Tikal screamed.

“Look like there’s been a change of fate,” Sonic said, removing her cloak as she began to stretch for whatever was coming next.

“I don’t understand! Tikal,” Knuckles said, turning her with concern, “can’t you just stop the vision and bring us back to the present?”

“No, I -- I can’t. My connection with Chaos is severed,” she said as panic flooded her eyes, “something is wrong! I can’t even return to my spirit form!”

A dark mist began to spread out from the once bright Sun, and dark creatures began to crash down into the village and began to attack the residents. “Please! Do what you can to save them! I’m unsure if anything that happens from here on out will affect the future or not,” Tikal started, “this is the last refuge for everyone on Earth. We can’t risk it.”

“Well then,” Knuckles said, as he and Sonic both started to crack their knuckles in unison, “different time, same problems, eh Sonic?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Sonic chuckled, “keep score, we’ll see who wins after!”

“You’re on!” Knuckles gave her a thumbs-up as he watched her run headfirst into the fray.

Tikal let out a scream as one of the dark creatures fell in front of her, Knuckles promptly turned around and gave it a decent punch to send it flying into a nearby building. “Look, I’ll take you somewhere safe and have Sonic bring everyone else there,” he said picking her up.

He noticed the Chief and the shamans had already run to the temple in the center of the village and were trying to usher refugees inside. Despite it not being completed, Knuckles figured it would be the safest place to bring Tikal and everyone else who is dealing with the monsters. “Everyone! If you can hear me! Get to the temple,” he screamed, “I’ll hold them off!”

He ran as quick as he could to the center of the village, dodging and knocking back just about anything that got in his way. “So you can’t get us out of here, and you can’t use any of your Chaos magic,” he said between jumping from creature to creature, “is there anything you can do?”

“Possibly, I might be able to use some of the magic of the priestess I’m posing as, but I’m not sure,” Tikal replied, trying frantically to create some sort of protective barrier around herself and Knuckles.

“Watch out!” Sonic yelled, as she rushed in and kicked back one of the dark creatures that was about to tackle Knuckles and Tikal.

“Sonic! We’ve got to--” Knuckles shouted but his voice was drowned out near-instantly, it was getting harder and harder to hear from all the clamor around them.

“Get everyone to the temple in the village, I know! There’s just too many of them!” Sonic replied.

More and more creatures fell from the sky, surrounding the three. Sonic, seeing no hope for an opening, quickly curled and revved up a spinball to clear a line straight to the temple. She let go with as much force as she could muster, managing to clear a patch to the building, which she landed on top of. “Hurry! Go!”

From atop the temple she looked around quickly to see who needed saving still, she could barely make out a few people that she powered through to grab and ferry to the temple, while Knuckles still maintained enough of a gap for her to drop them off and head for the next person. Once she felt she had everyone she could see, she rejoined Knuckles to try and help him from being surrounded by the growing tide of creatures still falling from the ground.

“Sonic, something’s not right about these things,” Knuckles said, as he kept knocking them back as the Temple door was slowly closing.

Once the door was shut, the tides of darkness were starting to become too much to handle, forcing Sonic and Knuckles to need to climb atop the temple. “Yeah, I know,” Sonic replied, “some part of me is telling me I shouldn’t hit them too hard.”

They reached the top of the temple a lot faster than the horde below them could climb. Both took advantage of the seconds of reprieve to catch their breath before they heard an ear-piercing scream echo through the village. Sonic could instantly tell where it was coming from. “Oh no…”

She blasted off at full force to the small plaza where she awoke in this time, where she found Tani cowering under the table from one of the looming creatures. “Mommy! Please, don’t hurt me!” the small echidna screamed. 

“Wait… Mommy?” Sonic looked cautiously at the shadowed figure, unable to make anything out of its face.

Tani, frantically trying to get away from the creature, kicked the table which then pushed the monster onto the ground in front of Sonic. She kneeled down to get a better look to see it was really an echidna woman encased in a swirling pool of dark shadows. “Oh…” she muttered from under her breath.

“Tani,” Sonic shouted to the young girl extending her arms out, “Everything is going to be okay! Come here! I’ll take you to safety.”

“Lady Azu! But what about my mommy?” the child asked as she rushed into Sonic’s arms.

“She’ll be fine, but we need to get you to somewhere safe,” Sonic said, picking Tani up and then dashing quickly back atop the temple.

“But… You said you could use the magic gems to help her! Why are you leaving her?” Tani screamed, reaching her hand back towards her mother, who was now rejoining the hordes of the other corrupted people.

“Right! The Chaos Emeralds, of course! I’m such an idiot!” Sonic exclaimed as she rejoined with Knuckles.

“Keep her safe, okay?” she told Knuckles as she set Tani down and made her way above the horde to the shrine where the Chaos Emeralds sat undisturbed.

She extended her arms out towards the emeralds and they began to float towards her. “Good, Azu can do this too,” she said before shaking her head in confusion, “or I can still do it even though I am Azu? It doesn’t matter.”

She chuckled to herself as the power of the gems flowed within her, and went Super. One of the corruptions attempted to grab her, but its hand was instantly caught by Sonic’s. She watched as the corruptive darkness began to fade away from the person’s hand, spreading across their body freeing them from its control. “Remind me to tell Chief What’s-His-Name, I told you so?” she remarked as the now freed echidna before her collapsed into a soft sleep.

Within moments she had begun to fly across the village, cleansing the corruption from everyone she could. Making sure to especially grab Tani’s mother and bring her atop the center temple. Filled with glee that she could see her mother again Tani rushed to hug her, despite still being unconscious. “Thank you, Lady Azu!” she exclaimed.

Sonic just gave her a warm smile and nod before turning her attention to the sky above. “He’s up there,” she said bluntly, “he’s been using the emeralds in our time to shift between our world and this one summoning all these poor people. Cutting Tikal off from Chaos.”

“He’s warping the realities, even if I stop him here there’s no telling if it’ll do anything once we get back home,” Sonic continued.

“Be careful, Sonic,” Knuckles said, trying to nurse the unconscious woman in front of him.

“You want to come too? I’ve got enough to share,” she said, extending her arms out to Knuckles.

“Not this time, I have to make sure everyone’s okay,” he replied, turning her down.

Acknowledging this, she then blasted up into the black clouds above. Doing her best to burn her energy outward to clear them away. After some time she managed to reach a point where she could once again feel the warmth of the Sun and see its light. At the center of the break of the clouds was a dark mass pulsating, like a heartbeat.

“So, you have come?” a voice echoed throughout the sky.

Sonic, unsure where it came from, decided not to focus on it and flew closer to the floating orb of darkness. It was giving off intense heat and caused Sonic’s heart to be filled with an unrelenting mix of negative emotions. She placed her hand against it, hoping to cleanse it as she did with all the people, and hopefully stop the storm around her. But as she did a hand reached out and pulled her inside of the mass.

“Welcome to your endless nightmare! Foolish Chosen!” a growing voice continued to hound its way into Sonic’s ears.

“It’s amazing, all this power that you have access to. I only have three of these, what do you call them now? Chaos Emeralds? Yet, here I am, able to bring my essence into this false time bubble that foolish echidna woman brought you in to, while still not having to set foot within it myself!”

“Dur’Aza, I assume?” Sonic asked, struggling to get free.

“Oh? How did you guess, oh wondrous, Lady Azu? That is who you’re masquerading around as right, Sonic?” Dur’Aza replied, the dark mass coalesced in front of Sonic into a faceless creature, still with a large hand grasping firmly around Sonic.

“Oh, simple. The massive clouds of total darkness, the corrupted people consumed by darkness, really the list goes on for how I can guess who you are,” Sonic replied somewhat bored.

“Knowing who I am does you no good! You can’t hope to beat me. I'm already on my way to that creature you call Shadow. Once I have his Chaos Emeralds I’ll be even more powerful!” he said laughing.

“How many did you say you have?” Sonic asked, still sounding unimpressed.

“As I said, with only three emeralds I’m able too--” Dur’Aza tried to speak before being cut off by a loud yawn from Sonic.

“Why don’t you let me show you what the full set can do?” she said as she closed her eyes and summoned up as much energy as she could, “Chaos Blast!”

All at once a large section of the cloud system was cleared and the sunlight began to poke through the bottom of them. Illuminating the village below. Sonic, now free of Dur’Aza’s grip, flew right up to and over his non-existent face, which with the Sun beaming down on it, Sonic was able to at least somewhat see a glimpse of surprise.

“Impossible! How could you escape that? You couldn’t do that in your past life!” Dur’Aza screamed angrily.

“I guess you missed the memo this time around? I’m Sonic the Hedgehog! I do the impossible every other week!” she bragged, as she proceeded to kick the dark being through the clouds, clearing more of the darkness away.

Dur’Aza managed to stop himself after some time and stood motionless. “It matters not how powerful you are here. You’re still never going to be able to get all of the Chaos Emeralds outside of this false existence!” 

He then faded away, along with the rest of the black cloud cover. “What’s the matter? Giving up already? I only hit you once!” Sonic shouted as the being went away.

Sonic then returned to the ground to see Tikal had joined Knuckles on top of the temple. She landed and then proceeded to power down, all the Chaos Emeralds falling to the ground around her.

“Did that work?” Knuckles asked, looking towards Tikal.

“I think so, I can feel Chaos again. I can try to bring us all back, if you’re all ready, that is?” Tikal asked earnestly.

Sonic and Knuckles both nodded, and Tikal began to pray silently, the world of the past they were in began to fade. “Lady Azu? Thank you for saving my mother like you said you would!” The child said as she slowly started to fade.

“Yes, Azu. Thank you…” the mother calmly said, holding Tani in her arms.

“I’m just glad you’re all okay,” Sonic replied, feeling happy that even if none of this was real, she at least was still able to help.

“I’m fine,” the mother said as the world around became a white void, she opened her eyes to reveal they were consumed by darkness, Dur’Aza’s twisted voice then resonated from within, “I’ll just find some other ways to fill your heart with despair, you foolish hedgehog!”

The twisted mother then lifted the child by the back of her neck. “I said, welcome to your endless nightmare!”

“No! Not again!” Sonic screamed, rushing towards the child before she faded from existence.

She was reaching out to Tani who was now screaming in pain, even though she was barely still there. Sonic made it to her but ended up grabbing thin air. A deafening snap then echoed throughout the void, as Sonic collapsed to her knees. The real world then faded in, and she slammed her fists at the base of the statue, crying uncontrollably.

Knuckles and Tikal both seeing this knelt down to try and comfort her. “Sonic, it’s okay. None of that was real right? I’m sure Tani lived a happy life after that.”

“No. She didn’t,” Sonic said between gasps of air, “her memories… my memories… I--”

“As I said, Knuckles,” Tikal said somberly, “we were reliving a day of her past life, as Azu. I was expecting some memories to pass through… but…”

“She wanted to come with me, to see me restore the world. I couldn’t say no, I took her with me, I taught her to fight,” Sonic said slamming her fists at the ground again, “she knew her mother was gone. But she still wanted to travel with me, no matter how much I tried to take her back!”

She stood up and wiped her eyes, “But he killed her just the same. The exact same way,” she said as she grasped at her heart.

Once she did she realized, somehow she was still wearing the flower necklace on top of the acorn one. “He manipulated the vision Tikal sent us to, just to get into my head,” Sonic said as she held tightly to the flowers around her neck, “and it worked. He wanted me to save her, just so I could watch her die again.”

“But none of that actually happened, right? It was all just a game to make you lose your cool,” Knuckles said, trying to console her.

“Like I said, it worked,” Sonic began to leave the room, defeated.

“Azu did manage to save the world, but at a great personal cost. She had adopted Tani very much in the same way Sonic has with Tails in this life,” Tikal explained to Knuckles, “after she cleansed the world she exiled herself, and was never seen again.”

“We both know I did much worse to myself than exile,” Sonic said as she stopped at the entryway.

“How much of that life do you even remember, Sonic?” Knuckles asked, deeply concerned.

“It’s all fading really fast now. But, I remember enough,” she said as she walked back into the altar room.

She noticed both Tails and Amy had both gone to sleep laying against the walls of the room. She must have spent longer in the past than she thought, but she’s glad they’re still okay. Still feeling defeated she sat next to Tails and grabbed him into a tight embrace. “Sonic?” he asked barely awake and groggy, “is everything okay?”

“Yes, buddy. Go back to sleep, I’ll explain everything tomorrow,” she said, holding back tears.

Amy, who was on Sonic’s other side, eventually shifted and fell into Sonic’s lap. She smiled as she ran her hand across the side of Amy’s face before falling asleep herself.

“Typical, I never even got to say she looks happier like that,” Knuckles said walking in the room with Tikal, “she was moving with so much confidence while she was Azu too, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

“She was really worried you’d cast her away today, in case you didn’t realize,” Tikal pointed out.

“Are you kidding? Sonic is my best friend, I don’t care about that gender stuff. That’s a modern world thing anyway,” Knuckles said, deflecting.

“I’m the last of our clan. The very least I could do is treat her the same as our people did to those like her,” he explained.

“You’re a good friend,” Tikal said warmly.

“I’m surprised you haven’t gone back into your spirit form in the Master Emerald yet, Tikal,” Knuckles started, “is there a reason you’re sticking around?”

“Seeing our village again, even so young, has gotten me missing this island too,” she explained, “I was hoping you’d walk with me? I can tell you more about our people.”

“You don’t even have to ask me that, of course, I’ll walk with you,” Knuckles said, as he and Tikal then left the altar room together to explore the island they call home.


	10. To the Rescue...?

##  **X**

_To the Rescue...?_

As faint glints of golden sunlight crept over the crest of the horizon, Knuckles and Tikal were finishing their impromptu tour of Angel Island. A few parting words were spoken as the guardian of ages past faded into the aether once more, a faint smile resting on her lips as her spirit returned to the gem which she was bound. As Knuckles' eyes drifted away from the rising sun, they landed on an uncharacteristically pensive Sonic perched on a cliff, gazing into the glimmering sunrise.

Knuckles, however, wasn’t the only one returning from a tour of the island’s ancient relics, as he’d notice Rouge traversing back through the jungle. A small knapsack full of what must have been ancient Echidna Clan goodies was slung over her shoulder, prompting an excessive glare from the island’s guardian. Some things just never change. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” he scoffed.

“What? It’s not like I took any of your personal things, Knuckles,” she replied defensively as she brandished a small gemstone, admiring the morning light reflected in its rough surface, “I had the decency to leave the Master Emerald here, didn’t I?”

Knuckles merely uttered an annoyed grunt. He may not have been the brightest, but he knew how she operated. “Whatever. You know my island’s not a yard sale, so you might as well quit while you’re ahead.”

As she admired the golden gleam in the bumpy stone, the reflection drew her eyes toward Sonic, calmly sitting just outside of earshot. “You know, now’s as good of a time as any to talk to her if you haven’t,” she whispered, eyeballing the small gem on a decorated ring. “It’s best to clear the air now that you know, don’t you think?”

It always pained him to admit when Rouge was right about something, but never so much that he couldn’t concede the point. Sonic was his friend after all, and if he- no, if _she_ wasn’t feeling right, it was on him to console her. As he trudged over to where Sonic was sitting, he noticed her cradling the charm necklace in her open palm. A single digit somberly traced along the growing cracks along its gilded shell in lamentation of the inevitable. Even for a brickhead like Knuckles, it was pretty easy to guess what these fractures meant.

“You know, the Master Emerald can probably make this transformation of yours permanent,” Knuckles asked earnestly, his friend’s expression only deepening his concern, “I mean, if that’s what you want anyway.”

“Nah,” she muttered lowly, tumbling the necklace about in her hand, “It just... doesn’t sit right with me. I dunno why.”

“Oh, uh, have you changed your mind?” Knuckles replied without thinking, only noting after the fact that that might not be the best thing to say. “I mean, it’s alright if you have, just...”

“Made it, actually,” she said with confidence as she stood up, giving a few cursory stretches. “I didn’t really like the thought of using this thing in the first place, even if it did make me feel… more like myself.”

Knux just scratched his head, puzzled. He didn’t know much about the alternative, only that it was bound to be long and arduous, and might not be as effective as using magical artifacts to seal the deal. At the end of the day though, it wasn’t his choice to make. It was hers. “I don’t really get it, but alright.”

“You never told me how beautiful the sunrise from way up here could be,” she started, “I guess that’s why you didn’t wanna come live with us, huh?”

“Well, I also need to guard the Master Emerald, but I guess you could say that,” he quipped in reply, “The scenery’s just one of the job’s perks.”

“Y’know, I’ve never really had the chance to slow down and appreciate stuff like this. I’m always just running from place to place,” she mused, turning to face her dense friend, “Sure, we’ve seen some amazing sights over the years but I’ve always been focused on getting from point A to point B. I’ve never really appreciated getting there, if that makes sense?”

“I guess so. Things don’t always feel... earned, if you rush to the finish line, after all,” Knuckles replied, understanding where his friend was coming from a little bit better, if only just a little.

Sonic braced herself as the warmth of Chaos Energy flushed through her again, only to leave her feeling cold as it drained away. Her outstretched hand stung for a brief moment as the acorn necklace finally snapped. Her eyes shut, and her heart sunk into her stomach as she heard the spent charm tumbling gently upon the ground. Her day was up, and the transformation was over.

“Is this... normal?” she asked herself as she stretched out, getting the lay of the land for her original figure again. She sat her hand on her hip where she normally did, with the other one firmly on her chin to think. The only thing she could think of was the disappointment of having lost the curves she loved from her transformation. Had she gotten too used to it? Part of her wished it would have lasted just a bit longer, but the rest of her felt… eager, anxious to get back to her new normal on her own merits. No Chaos Magic altering her body in ways she wasn’t wholly comfortable with, no relying on magic charms just to feel comfortable, no cheating whatsoever. This journey was _hers_ to make how _she_ saw fit, and quite ironically for her, taking it slow seemed like the most satisfying path. 

With another affirmative nod to Knuckles, before making her way back through Hydro City to the emerald shrine. Rouge made her way back to Knuckles after she finished inspecting all the treasure she had collected. “You knew she was going to say no, but you still asked?”

“I know, but it was worth asking,” Knuckles replied, “but she seems set on what she wants. I’m happy about that.”

“That seems to be the mood all ‘round,” Rouge said, “but seriously, as much as I love helping with all the self-discovery, I’m still really worried about Shadow. He had two Chaos Emeralds with him, can you find him?”

“Well, yeah. We need to head back to the Master Emerald so I can,” he said, walking off towards Hydro City beckoning Rouge to follow.

After some time they returned to the altar room and were greeted by Sonic, Tails, and Amy, who were all sitting and chatting about the recent events. “Okay, let’s find some emeralds,” Knuckles said holding his arms out to the Master Emerald.

After a while, an image began to form from within the Master Emerald. In it, the group all saw Shadow quickly on the move being chased by crawling masses of darkness. “That’s not good,” Sonic said, stepping towards the Master Emerald, “I don’t think the Tornado can get us there fast enough.”

“It can’t,” Tails replied, “even if it had its normal engine in it, we wouldn’t come close to fast enough to get to Shamar in time.”

As they all deliberated on a plan, the view of Shadow in the Master Emerald quickly became more dire, as he began to push the darkness back with his chaos magic every time it grabbed a hold of him.

“I’m not sure how long he can keep this up, he doesn’t like to admit it, but even he can’t go forever,” Rouge pointed out.

“Guess we’re not exactly pressed for options then,” Sonic replied, taking more steps atop the altar.

She held her hand against the giant stone and took a deep breath. “You’re seriously not about to do what I think you are, are you?” Knuckles asked, taken back with concern.

Sonic just gave him a quick wink, “don’t worry, I’ll let you guys catch up,” she said, before using Chaos Control to bring herself all the way to Shadow in the Shamar Desert.

She managed to place herself atop a small rock formation not too far from Shadow, who instantly noticed her.

“You’re late,” he scoffed as Sonic jumped over the tidal waves of darkness towards him.

“Aww, what’s this? Shadow the Hedgehog expecting help for once?” Sonic asked as she started to match pace with and run alongside Shadow.

“Help? From you?” he laughed, “That’s the last thing I need.”

“Could’ve fooled me, I haven’t seen you push yourself this hard in years!” Sonic snarkily replied.

Shadow only huffed and pushed himself faster. “Oh, so you didn’t want my help. You just wanted another race?” Sonic asked, gearing up speed as well.

“Now’s not the time for that, what I need from you is answers,” Shadow said bluntly.

“Oh, uh, this? I can explain later,” Sonic said, pulling at her clothes.

“I don’t care about that. Here,” Shadow said, tossing Sonic one of the Chaos Emeralds he had on him.

Sonic yelped as she caught it, it was giving off even more energy than the others were before. “Ow! Hot hot hot!”

“Exactly. The closer I get to the Doctor the hotter the Emeralds get, which means whatever’s causing this is his doing,” Shadow explained.

“So this is where he’s been hiding out the past eight months? Okay, one problem. There’s something a little more pressing going on at the moment,” Sonic said as she turned around to see the mass of darkness growing faster.

“We’re getting way too close to a village nearby, we can’t just put people in harm’s way,” She continued.

“Oh, I’m afraid you’re too late for that,” a voice echoed from above the two of them.

They both looked up to see a black silhouette above them, glaring down with eyes glowing a demonic orange. In front of them another dark mass began to ooze toward them. It wasn’t long before the duo were surrounded and forced to come to a stop. Sonic’s attention stayed on Dur’Aza, who was slowly returning to the ground.

“Fancy new peepers ya got there! Now I can actually see the face you make when I knock you around again this time,” she said with confidence.

“Ah, the foolish boy playing dress up! I look forward to crushing your soul once more," the demon spoke, his new eyes glaring with intensity.

Sonic just stared back with her fists clenched and a small fire igniting in her heart. Something about that comment in particular sent anger to her core, anger that she could barely contain. She was more than ready to leap towards Dur'Aza and pay him back the torment of the past day. A sharp "Look out!" broke her tunnel vision as Shadow pulled her away from a spear jutting out from the pooling darkness behind her.

Dur'Aza just began to laugh upon reaching the ground. "Ah, yes. The artificial soul to the rescue! Such darkness in your heart, such tainted blood. Once I corrupt your pitiful false existence you'll be my perfect puppet!" he raved.

"If you think I'll just submit and be your puppet so easily, then you know next to nothing about me," Shadow said, his patience running thin.

“Oh, that’s right! You’re still just a puppet to this world’s government,” he remarked, “once a weapon, always a weapon. I almost feel sorry for you.” 

"Don't listen to him, Shadow! All he's trying to do is get in your head!" Sonic shouted, kicking up a whirlwind to try and make more space in front of her.

It wasn’t long until her feet started to gum up from the pooling darkness around the two of them. Each step became more and more laborious until neither of them could move. “Why keep struggling? It’s no use,” Dur’Aza laughed, “it’s always easier to break someone when they’re unable to move forward, wouldn’t you both agree?”

His attention became purely focused on Shadow, as he moved in close and caressed the underside of Shadow’s jaw. “Then again, you’ve never been able to move on from anything, have you?”

“What are you--?” Shadow managed to mutter before Dur’Aza’s hand took a firm grasp over his face.

“Shadow! No!” Sonic screamed, watching as Shadow slowly began to be engulfed in darkness.

Shadow was gasping for air as everything around him went black, he managed to get one last breath before everything faded away. After what seemed like an eternity he started to feel cold, with only the unwelcomed warmth of glaring eyes all around him.

“You poor, false excuse of life. Still just a slave to your past, it’s so easy to find the memory that haunts your every living moment.” Dur’Aza’s sinister voice echoed throughout the darkness.

Slowly, the Ark began to take shape around Shadow. He found himself running yet again through a familiar hallway, a familiar nightmare. Holding Maria’s hand as they both were escaping the constant gallop of combat boots behind them. He said nothing, as Dur’Aza’s voice continued to echo in his mind.

“That bastard Robotnik was too obsessed with saving this frail girl’s life he sold his soul twice to create a cure for her. All he got was you: a failed experiment, an abortion of science, a mockery to life itself. He promised the humans immortality. He promised the Black Arms a chosen soldier to aid in their conquests. Yet, they got you, a failure to everything you were created for.”

Shadow continued to ignore this, he tried his best to ignore everything caught up in the moment. Something was compelling him to play along to the dream. He’d already been forced through this enough times when Black Doom tried this exact same thing, and he knew Dur’Aza had yet to play his full hand. So he kept running until they reached the escape pod room.

“Robotnik tried to play you off as some child’s pet. Knowing full well you were the product of his betrayal to not only the entirety of the human race, but to Project Shadow as a whole. He created that other failure of a creature as a smokescreen to disguise your true purpose. But when the project was deemed ‘too dangerous’ instead of giving up, he doubled down. He went crazy, and the president was forced to bring down the hammer and kill everything related to the project. Yet, here you still stand. A testament to his failures, from then, to now, throughout eternity, if your immortality is to be believed.”

Shadow felt something in his heart sever as Maria ran towards the escape pod controls. The stampede of footsteps behind the door came to an abrupt stop. Suddenly the compulsion to follow the dream ended, but he still wasn’t fully in control. He felt a dark presence culminate behind him, and a chill ran down his spine. Everything began to slow down to a crawl.

“At the end of it all, despite being created to _save_ her,” Dur’Aza said looping around Maria, frozen in time, “it’s _your_ fault she’s dead.”

He slowly walked towards Shadow and returned to his side. “If _you_ were never created, your false existence never given flesh, she would still be alive!”

Time started to flow again, and Maria looked over to Shadow with complete and utter fear. “S-Shadow?” she stammered, starting to step backwards away from him.

“You may as well have been the gun that killed her!”

Dur’Aza began to laugh, as Shadow raised a gun towards Maria. His eyes burning brighter and brighter, almost burning into Shadow’s soul.

“So that’s your game, isn’t it?” Shadow said, himself starting to laugh, “You’ve really gone through all of this just to forget a few things.”

Dur’Aza’s gaze of elation slowly turned into a mix of fear and confusion as Shadow turned the gun on him. From just a simple squeeze of the trigger, the nightmarish vision fell away with the resounding gunshot. The shadowy villain recoiled, clutching his eye as he growled in pained frustration. Chaos Energy danced about Shadow’s body, it’s glow expunging the inky darkness. Sonic immediately fell to the ground, breathing a deep sigh of relief as she collapsed and lost consciousness. She had pushed herself too hard trying to escape Dur’Aza’s grasp to try and save Shadow.

“You see, you masquerade around like you can peer into my heart, and know my fears,” Shadow started, removing his inhibitors, “but there’s only one person who knows who _I_ am!” 

Shadow grasped his Chaos Emerald and in a near instant he sent Dur’Aza into a nearby canyon wall. In shock, the demon was unable to prepare for the next unrelenting kick, tossing him through the desert sands. “You taunt me with what you believe to be a memory that still haunts me, acting like you can use it to control me,” Shadow said, continuing to throw Dur’Aza around like a ragdoll, “when that day is a constant reminder of who I am. It gives me the strength to move forward!”

“But, how?” Dur’Aza screeched, hardly having a second of reprieve, “I felt it. I felt you! Your fears, your regret! You know deep down you’re just a mockery of what’s real to this world!”

“And that’s your worst mistake,” Shadow explained, continuing his assault, “I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form, and I will not be controlled by the likes of you!”

As Shadow began to charge forward for what he hoped was the finishing blow, he found himself stuck in place, as Dur’Aza held his three Chaos Emeralds in front of him. Using their power to stop Shadow completely.

“Marvelous creations these are, if I had known what powers they could unlock all those millenia ago perhaps that unconscious wretch over there wouldn’t have sealed me away.” 

He paused for a moment, his eyes widening with new purpose. He began to laugh uncontrollably. “Oh, but perhaps I am a fool. You two are just too alike. Your energies are almost in sync,” he then began to walk towards Sonic, “Foolish Chosen One, for one with an unbreakable spirit, yours is certainly in turmoil.”

She had only barely started to regain consciousness as Dur’Aza lifted her up by the quills. “So afraid of these of all things?” he said as he took Sonic’s emerald from her.

“You’ve gotten too complacent, having your friends fight your demons for you. What do you say, hmm?” he said, dragging his finger across the emerald, engulfing it in a blackish flame, “Let’s let the demon out to play!”

He plunged his hand into Sonic’s chest, piercing her heart, and dropping her to the ground. He then took the four emeralds and faded away, his laughter echoing through the air. Shadow fell to the ground as well, the exhaustion from releasing all the Chaos Energy finally catching up with him. A brief moment of pure silence passed before it was broken by a primal, rage-filled roar that shook the ground from under him. It was almost otherworldly, not just by how it sounded, but by how it felt. It was as if all the negative energy from the Chaos Emeralds was released in an instant focused on one singular point: Sonic.

He returned to where their fight with Dur’Aza had initially begun to watch Sonic writhing on the ground in pain. Her eyes were engulfed in darkness as she looked at Shadow with an almost pure rage, slamming her fists to the ground as claws ripped through her gloves and began to tear apart the ground under her. Her face began to morph and her teeth began to sharpen as her growls became more primal and guttural. She began sprinting on all fours as the rest of her clothes ripped away, destroying the terrain between her and Shadow as she ran towards him in a rampage.

“Well, that’s new…!” Shadow grunted as he braced for impact. He couldn’t tell if he was just feeling exhausted from giving off too much energy, or if it was from what felt like a freight train hitting him at full force, but Sonic’s feral assault winded him more than anything he’d ever felt before.

In what seemed like sick poetry, he ended up flying fast into the same hole he had previously made while fighting Dur’Aza, this time taking more of the canyon wall with him. He fell to his knees with ringing ears, trying to focus through double vision as Sonic once again charged forth in blind fury. Thinking he could just easily jump out of the way this time, he winced in shock as his leg was caught by a peculiarly stretched arm. Before he knew it, he’d crashed hard into the canyon wall yet again. Clearly, this approach was not working.

Shadow’s mind raced with endless thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to fight back. They had always fought and sparred before on what seemed like equal terms. But this? This was different. Shadow recognized that. They weren’t on equal footing anymore, at least not now. It was as if all of Sonic’s speed was turned into raw power, and as strong as he was himself, Shadow couldn’t match that. That’s when it dawned on him that for the first time in the years they’ve known each other, he had the advantage on speed.

In a split second of sanity, Sonic began clutching her head, screaming in pain. Tears began to flow from her face as she fell to her knees. Seizing the opportunity, Shadow rushed in with hopes to calm her down.

“Sonic! You need to listen to me!” he shouted, “I don’t know what he’s done to you, but you have to fight it!”

The moment was fleeting, as rage slowly began to engulf Sonic once again. This time however Shadow was prepared to go on the full defensive. He was still drained, and having to make full use of his Chaos Emerald to maintain any semblance of his Chaos powers, but his own natural speed was more than enough to keep Sonic’s monstrous assault at bay. However, it wasn’t long before she had managed to land a solid slash across Shadow’s chest, drawing blood. He clutched it, as it burned with what felt like pure negative energy.

“If you’re not going to listen to reason, then I guess I’m going to have to beat the sense back into you!” he shouted, gripping the emerald tight as energy began to flow around him once more.

Being done playing defensive, he propelled himself at full force at Sonic. Taking full advantage of the rarity of being faster than her. Without hesitation he unleashed an almost equally punishing assault back at Sonic, who tried frantically to grapple him as the attacks kept coming. Every punch, every kick, fueled with Chaos Energy, yet it barely seemed to wear down the feral hedgehog.

“I guess if you’re going to turn into a monster, I might as well treat you like one!” Shadow continued, swiftly delivering a kick to Sonic’s jaw. 

Whether it was his words, or that final kick, something in Sonic awoke and she was finally in control of herself once again. Shadow watched with relief as the darkness left her eyes, leaving behind a teary, bloodshot expression upon her face. His relief at this quickly turned to panic as Sonic grabbed him and began to crush him in her hands.

“If everyone’s going to hate me and think I’m a freak anyway, why shouldn’t I just be a monster?” She said, a mutual panic flooding from her voice.

“Because it’s not who you are, Sonic! Listen to me!” Shadow screamed as Sonic’s grip began to tighten around him, preventing him from breathing fully.

“I won’t have to pretend. I won’t have to deal with the guilt of not being what everyone expected me to be.”

“Sonic…” Shadow started between pain filled gasps of air, “I know more than anyone that it doesn’t matter _what_ you are, as long as you don’t lose sight of _who_ you are…”

More tears began to stream down her face as Sonic’s grip began to loosen. She once again fell to her knees crying, as the dark energy around her faded away. She looked at her hands again and started to laugh at the fact her gloves came back. “I’ll never figure out how they do that.”

Shadow began coughing upon reaching the ground, finally being able to take a full breath of air once again. The two hedgehogs sat in silence for some time, the two of them catching their breaths and recomposing from what just occurred. Sonic found herself clutching her head into her knees while Shadow strained himself even more to use the Chaos Emerald to heal the both of them to the best of his abilities.

After a while, Shadow finally broke the silence. “Care to explain what the hell that was just about?” To which, Sonic gave out a heaving sigh.

She went over everything from the past few days, the Master Emerald, Tikal, Chaos, everything. Including her new outlook on life, which wasn’t just limited to her, well, being a ‘her’ now. She’d still yet to fully learn just how to talk about that, though.

She explained where Dur’Aza originally came from, though she doesn’t know why he’s back. She also detailed her trip to the past and the chaos that Dur’Aza caused. All the while, Shadow seemed to listen with content.

Shadow just ended up laughing, resulting in a slightly worried and confused look from Sonic. “What’s so funny?”

“Every time I seem to worry we’re too much alike, you always throw a curveball my way,” Shadow replied.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Don’t act so naive. There was a point in my life I thought you were my twin, or maybe I was just a clone of this ‘Shadow’ everyone knew who died,” he started, “then I thought I was just an Android The Doctor cobbled together with the memories of the real Shadow. That I’d be doomed to be a soulless machine, never knowing just who I really am.”

Sonic had never seen Shadow open up like this before, somehow she knew the best course of action was to just listen.

“After all of that, when I basically accepted my fate of being just a copy. The planet gets invaded, and I learn that I’m not only _the_ Shadow, but I was created from the blood of an interstellar warmonger. Despite me almost dooming the planet twice, you’ve always treated me with respect.”

“I don’t see how any of that would change how I see you. You’ve always just been Shadow to me, Shadow. To all of us,” Sonic interjected, “You may have been quite the heel, but, you’re a good person.”

“Then tell me why, in what world, would you think for a second any of your friends would ever see you as anything other than Sonic, Sonic?”

She just groaned as she buried her face deeper into her knees, “I really am just being an idiot about this, aren’t I? Why is everyone so much better at this than I am?”

Their ears started to twitch as a familiar ruddering sound began to fill the air. Overhead they were greeted to the sight of the Tornado once again, Amy gracefully waving from atop the wings. “Sonic!!” she yelled from the top of the plane.

Sonic got up and stretched and watched as Tails gave signals about how far out he was about to land. She looked towards Shadow who gave her a confirming nod before she ran off to regroup with everyone.

Shadow instead walked back to the battle ground, gently rubbing his wrists to ease the tension. As he found his inhibitor rings amongst the clutter he noticed a miniscule Crabmeat robot surveying the scene. Once he was noticed by the small robot, it quickly ran off and into the desert. He took note of the direction it took, and then went towards the Tornado to also regroup.

The Doctor was close, if how hot the Chaos Emeralds were burning was any indication of it. He was behind all of this in some way, and Shadow couldn’t help but have the sinking feeling they were running low on time.


End file.
